[Elecraft] [KX3] Key Clicks / Ringing - September Experiment

[Joel Black]

I am almost reluctant to post this. I know there will be some that will 
not take this as it was intended. Regardless, here is my disclaimer: 
Don't take this as griping, complaining, beating a dead horse, etc. 
These are strictly *my* observations at *my* station operating the way 
*I* operate - QRP op, casual CW op, casual CW / RTTY contester, casual 
chaser of DX. These observations are, therefore, subjective based on my 
operating.

I think it's always good to experiment a bit with your particular setup. 
I have, for the month of September to this point, been experimenting 
with simplifying my station. I took the K3/P3 combo off my desk and have 
just been playing around with the KX3 exclusively - no panadapter; just 
the KX3 and the power supply.

I have discovered that the K3/P3 combo has spoiled me.

In a separate blog post draft, here are some notes comparing the KX3 to 
the K3 I made:

The ATU on the KX3 is not a per band setting as it is on the K3. I 
created a macro to work around this.

I can only have two macros loaded in the KX3 at any given time. The K3 
can have up to eight (I think I have four and could truly reduce that to 
two or three - I wouldn't need the ATU macro).

Hitting RCL on the KX3 means I *must* turn VFO A whether I want to QSY 
or not. On the K3, if I decide I hit the button by mistake, I can hit it 
again and clear my mistake.

VFO B tunes too slowly - yes, it can be made to tune more coarse in the 
menu.

My absolute biggest annoyances are the key clicks and digital ringing 
when working split / dual watch in either mode. The *only* way I found 
to get rid of the key clicks was to turn off dual watch and just operate 
split. However, if I read the manual correctly, this eliminates the 
ability to listen to both VFO A and VFO B. The KX3 Operating Manual, Rev 
B4, June 01, 2012 it states, "Dual Watch Limitations... A wider roofing 
filter than normal will be selected automatically, if required, based on 
the frequency span between VFO A and VFO B."

Reading that, my thinking is that I'm *not* going to get the ringing/key 
clicks out unless I get a set of headphones that will allow me to adjust 
the volume individually for L and R *or* just turn AF gain all the way 
down while transmitting. I think both the former and latter have been 
mentioned on the list. I have turned up the QSK to .020 and that 
*almost* eliminates the clicks and ringing. Honestly, I could probably 
live with the clicks to an extent. The ringing drives me batty - it's 
painful. NR is off.

I'm trying to decide now how much of the time I actually operate and 
"need" to operate with the dual watch function on. I suspect after the 
W1AW/p event is over, that "need" will go down to around 10% or so - 
perhaps even lower.

Now, take this as it was intended - I'm not asking that the KX3 do 
something for which it was not intended - like I said at the start, the 
K3 has spoiled me. The KX3 is a fantastic rig! I have thoroughly enjoyed 
using it this month.

73/72,
Joel - W4JBB