[Elecraft] [KX3] KX3 Setup For Contesting?

Wed Jul 3 10:34:30 EDT 2013

Being an avid contester, and having used the KX3 in numerous contests
already (both stateside and as a DX station), I think it makes a great
contest radio.

One of the first things I'd suggest is considering trying it on CW rather
than SSB. If you don't know CW, this is a great time to learn, and I think
you'll find its a LOT easier to make QSOs on CW as opposed to SSB when
conditions are not excellent. On CW, with very modest antennas, I can work
stuff in the noise with my KX3 and 10w, but on SSB, they have to be strong
in most cases before I can make a QSO.

I'd also strongly recommend ditching the /QRP piece. When I'm running a
pileup, the last thing I want to hear is /QRP or /MOBILE - those are
irrelevant to the contest, and actually, IMHO, hamper your ability to make
the QSO. As previously stated, the idea is to make lots of QSOs fast, and
so to be efficient, you want to send what's relevant and necessary, not
extraneous stuff, like /QRP, /MOBILE, "please copy...", "thanks for the new
one", or any of that. For any DX station, the band is only open for a
finite amount of time, and if there's a pileup, ever extra word you or
someone else throws in is taking time away from other QSOs. That said, I'm
not trying to suggest that this is always the case, clearly there's times
when DX stations are calling CQ with no takers, and in those times clearly
the demand is much lower...

For antennas, as others have said, try to make them as efficient as
possible. This means full-size, resonant, and usually as high as possible.
Try to avoid shortened, compromise antennas, and try to avoid using the
antenna tuner if you can. If you can get some directionality that will help
too. Of course, if you are limited in $ or other factors, its hard to beat
a dipole 1/2 wavelength high or higher for bang for the buck.

The KX3 is a pretty easy radio to operate - not a lot of tweaking is needed
to make it functional - mic gain settings, compression settings, and
equalizer settings will help, and in those cases the archives are full of
suggestions, but try to minimize the lower bass frequencies with the
equalizer, as those are essentially wasting the small amount of power you
have.

Have fun though and put your time in, and you'll find your way!

73 de N6GQ, aka YN2AA, 9H3ZZ, SV5/N6GQ, etc., etc.

On Tue, Jul 2, 2013 at 4:42 AM, Aaron Melton <aaron at aaronmelton.com> wrote:

> **
>
>
> [Cross-posting between KX3 Yahoo Group & Elecraft mailing list.]
>
> Hi all,
>
> I'm sure at least a few of you read this email to see if this was a
> joke... :D
>
> I originally purchased a KX3 for portable ops, SOTA, etc. and it's been an
> awesome rig in that regard. However, I'd like to participate in a few DX
> contests from time to time and this is currently my only HF rig. I know
> that operating QRP means I'm getting clobbered more often than not by
> higher power stations, but is like to know if anyone else has any tricks
> they'd like to share?
>
> If you operate QRP (5 watts) during normal contests, what/how do you do?
>
> I have experimented with the mic gain and its currently set to 30 (which
> seems to provide the most power before detrimentally distorting my voice).
> I haven't touched this dial since week one.
>
> I've alternated adjusting the voice compression at times, but haven't had
> much opportunity to get feedback from another station on how well (or not)
> it might improve cutting through the noise.
>
> I've been told that taking some of the lows out of my voice (EQ?) might
> help as well?
>
> Finally, I've started appending "stroke QRP" to the end of my call when
> contacting other stations. It doesn't make it more likely that I'll be
> heard, but if heard I find I usually receive preferential treatment.
>
> Have you any radio settings or techniques that would help a new(er) KX3
> owner and wannabe contester?
>
> Thanks!
>
> Aaron
> de KK4LOV
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