[Elecraft] [KX3] Can't get CW decode to work

[Gary Hawkins]

I'm now the proud owner of a KX3 and for the most part have everything setup and working.  The one thing I can't get to work currently is the CW (and likely RTTY and PSK) decode.  

Now the antenna setup I have is not great and I'm suffering from high levels of RF interference.  Thus, it's either finger trouble or S/N is not sufficient for the decoder to work correctly.  The best CW signal I've found was at about S8 while the noise was about S4 as displayed on the KX3.  This corresponded to about 25-30dB SNR displayed on HDSDR.  This would be easy to decode by ear (I don't read Morse yet) but I could not get the CW decoder to work even after using CWT.  

Also, while I'm asking questions.  As I mentioned my antenna (consisting of a random wire with home made balun) will only tune to about 4.4:1 using ATU on 40m.  What's the highest VSWR you should transmit with?  I know my VHF days this figure would be too high.

Best regards,

Gary
KK6GXD