[Elecraft] K3 - What settings to use for RX and TX Audio

[Fred Jensen]

Don't know your call Harry, but your question about RX EQ is a bit like 
going into a mattress store and asking, "What pillow will be most 
comfortable for me?":-)  Only you hear like you do, only you can tell 
what you like and then only by adjusting and trying it out.  A couple of 
suggestions however:

1.  One adjustment at a time followed by way more than 60 seconds of 
listening.  The effects are subtle, and if you move too fast, you'll 
just get frustrated ... and be tempted to post that the K3 RX EQ is 
worthless, which has happened once. :-))

2.  Test each setting under varied band conditions ... quiet SSB, CQ WPX 
SSB [or whatever] before more adjusting.

My hearing is severely compromised and has been since one night 50 years 
ago on the other side of the planet.  I adjusted mine to look roughly 
like the inverse of my audiogram.  I need about 80 dB above 1200 Hz and 
over 95 dB above 2 KHz, which is beyond the range of the RX EQ, but you 
can get an effective 30 dB of adjustment range by lowering the low 
frequencies, boosting the highs, and turning up the AF gain, if that's 
your goal.  It's not as good as my hearing aids, but then, my K3 is a 
ham radio, not a hearing aid.

I've actually found that just using the SHIFT knob when on SSB, I can 
quickly adjust the response for different voices if I'm having a hard 
time copying a DX call or a really weak station.
 >
 > I also would like the settings for TX audio, particularly for 2
 > groups of settings one for Ragchew and one for punch. Thank you

I don't ragchew much and I'm not sure how to measure "punch," but I 
started with K9YC's settings since he retired out of professional audio 
and I know him, tweaked them a tiny bit for my voice with a local who 
knows what I sound like, and often get unsolicited "great audio" 
comments on SSB.  My settings are:

1: -16
2: -12
3: -6
4: -2
5: 0
6: +4
7: +6
8: +10

YMMV, but in general the lower 2 registers, and even #3 to some extent 
do not contribute much at all to communications efficiency.  The upper 2 
or so boost the sibilant components which do enhance the difference 
between many words.

I use a Heil ProSet with the iC2 electret element I got from Elecraft. 
I think you will find, if you spend enough time with it, that your 
compression and mic gain/ALC settings will have at least as much effect 
on the "quality" of your TX signal as the TX EQ, and maybe more.

The first four bars on the ALC meter are not ALC, they're showing audio 
level.  ALC action is indicated by the 5th and above [I think I have 
that right, I'm sure I'll be corrected if necessary]. My shack is pretty 
quiet when I'm on SSB, I run between 8 and 10 dB peak compression, and 
set the mic gain so the 5th bar flickers as I speak.

73,

Fred K6DGW
- Northern California Contest Club
- CU in the 50th Running of the Cal QSO Party 3-4 Oct 2015
- www.cqp.org

On 2/26/2015 12:53 PM, Harry Yingst via Elecraft wrote:
> Is there a list somewhere that gives some guidance on setting up the
> K3 for good Audio.I've read a little about some of the various AGC
> settings, but would like a bit more details.