[Elecraft] P3 TX Mon Usefulness?

[Phil Hystad]

Now that I have the P3 TX Monitor I am wondering if this is anything more than a mere light-show for entertainment.  I am mostly CW and I find that the actual TX display of the CW to be a bit silly looking and contrived.  In fact, it looks like something fake to me and I say that not as a criticism so much as a curiosity in wondering what the display actually shows.  

I have adjusted some of the TX Mon parameters to adjust the “size” of the envelop display but I still am not sure I understand exactly what I am seeing and if this has value other than ham radio eye candy.  Maybe I need a chapter added to  the P3 writeup by Fred Cady (KE7X) describing the meaning and analysis of wave shapes.

I actually like the power (peak power indicator) and SWR display but not sure I would get rid of my LP-100A as a result.

No, I am not regretting the purchase, just wondering about the value of the display.  From my very few experiments with SSB and the TX mon, I see a more interesting display but certainly I can’t easily tell if what I see tells me anything useful to know or useful in analyzing signals from the K3.  Now, if I could hook up the P3 TX Monitor feature to my Eico 720 CW transmitter and see the wave shape of CW signals I might discover the major chirps that my 720 produces — But, a K3, it is near perfection in CW shaping (or, at least to me it is).

Just a few observations and curiosity questions from a philistine among experts.

73, phil, K7PEH