[Elecraft] P3 & marker B transmit freq.

[Ian White]

Forgive me, but I don't understand why anyone calling in a pileup would
ever wish to use the main RX to tune the pileup, while listening to the
DX station on the 2nd RX. 

The K3's Main RX and 2nd RX are identical in performance; but they are
not identical in ease of use. It always takes a few seconds more to
reach the functions of the 2nd RX because of the BSET button.

We need to ask ourselves: which station do we need hear the best; and
why?

The DX station that we are trying to work is the ONLY station that we
need to copy accurately and in detail. That station is also likely to be
quite weak, and these days we may also be fighting deliberate, malicious
QRM on the DX station's own frequency. For all of those reasons, surely
it makes sense to listen to the DX station on the Main RX (VFO A) where
all of the K3's QRM-fighting tools are instantly to hand? 

The 2nd RX is completely adequate for tuning the pileup because we
aren't listening for details there. We only need to find where a station
is sending "599" and "TU", to help us judge where and when to place our
own call. We don't need to copy any further detail, so why waste the
Main RX on tuning the pileup? 

For tuning the pileup with the 2nd RX, I have always found my saved
Normal passband settings to be completely adequate, and have never felt
the need to change them on the fly. There isn't time to do that anyway,
because in the next few seconds everything will have moved on.

Maybe this is all a habit, developed from using older transceivers with
a very inferior 2nd RX... but it still seems to make good sense today.


73 from Ian GM3SEK


>-----Original Message-----
>From: elecraft-bounces at mailman.qth.net [mailto:elecraft-
>bounces at mailman.qth.net] On Behalf Of Vic Rosenthal K2VCO
>Sent: 19 March 2014 14:26
>To: elecraft at mailman.qth.net
>Subject: Re: [Elecraft] P3 & marker B transmit freq.
>
>This is what I've learned to do. The only problem is that once you
enter
>this mode, if you want to fool with selectivity, APF, shift, etc. to
>hear the DX better, you must press BSET first.
>
>On 3/19/2014 6:42 AM, Peter Wollan wrote:
>> Another thought .... how about putting the magenta marker on the DX
>> transmit frequency, and roam up with the A green main knob?  And
leave
>> split off.
>>
>>       Peter W0LLN
>>
>>
>> On Wed, Mar 19, 2014 at 8:35 AM, Sam Morgan <k5oai.sam at gmail.com>
>wrote:
>>
>>> just a thought....
>>> how about creating a macro that does what you want...?
>>>
>>>
>>> On 3/19/2014 9:31 AM, Gary Smith wrote:
>>>
>>>> Bill,
>>>>
>>>> Understood that some only use it that way, that is not my norm
>>>> though. I chase DX and If I engage the magenta operation with the
P3,
>>>> its to be transmitting on a DX's listening frequency and in all
those
>>>> cases I will be split.
>
>--
>73,
>Vic, K2VCO
>Fresno CA
>http://www.qsl.net/k2vco/
>