[Elecraft] [K3] need help with hiss on ssb receive

[Dale Boresz]

Bill,

What is your setting for AGC - THR? It sounds like you may have it set 
to a low value. I have mine set to 20 (you'll need recent firmware to 
enable this), and find that setting the AF gain to a comfortable 
listening level positions the background band noise way down for all but 
the very weakest of signals. Yes, you'll end up riding the AF gain a 
bit, but the audio sure sounds great.

73, Dale
WA8SRA


On 11/24/2012 2:59 PM, Bill Clarke wrote:
> Hiss is my biggest complaint regarding my K3. To cut down the 
> irritation I send the audio to a pair of Behringer amplified studio 
> speakers and cut back on the highs on the internal speaker equalizer. 
> I also have played considerably with the K3's RX Eq and with the AGC. 
> Further, I have set the AGC back so that it does not immediately rise 
> the background noise when a loud signal stops. Don't forget to add the 
> ATT into the mix - it can really help when the noise is bad.
>
> The "noise" is, to me, the background band noise - with QRM and QRN. I 
> live in a rural area where the typical daytime noise level is less 
> than S1. At that level, I don't think there should be anything coming 
> from the speakers. When the bands are noisy - well, simply put, the K3 
> is hard to continue listening to.
>
> I have listened to a TS590 and it IS a quieter receiver and more 
> pleasant to listen to for hours at a time. I own a couple of TS480s 
> and they are both more pleasant to listen to in the long run. All that 
> said, my settings have brought the K3 to _nearly_ as good as the 
> Kenwoods - which is _nearly_ acceptable. To be fair, both the Kenwoods 
> and the K3 need operator made menu settings to attain the desired RX 
> audio.
>
> I have the P3 and some extra SSB and AM filters and boards - so I am 
> deep into life with the K3. Everything is extra on the K3 (filters, 
> SWL listening, AM, tuner, etc.) - but - - -after about $3600 I have a 
> rig that is about equal to the TS590. Ya Ya!  I know that is a harsh 
> statement, but for my purposes it is quite accurate.
>
> I operate only on 160, 75, and 40 meters. Nets and rag chew. Hence, I 
> enjoy serious armchair copy.
>
> Someone asked the other day if I would rather have a 590 and I replied 
> in the affirmative. However, I am not about to take a thousand dollar 
> licking as punishment for having wanted a USA made product. 
> So................ I'll be keeping my K3.
>
> Bill W2BLC
>
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