[Elecraft] K3 AM Performance

[Tony Estep]

On Mon, Mar 23, 2015 at 5:41 PM, jim <jbollit at outlook.com> wrote:

> ...a better CW code reader would be a better use...

==============
Well, it's true, the CW reader gets complaints on here, but I have a
different take. I had never tried it until a couple of nights ago -- in
fact, I had to look in the manual to see how to turn it on. But I ran
across a long-winded qso at about 85 wpm and I couldn't copy a doggone
thing. I decided to try the CW reader to see if it was indeed CW. Sure
enough, the CW reader started revealing words and then sentences and
paragraphs. It missed words, but there was plenty enough copy to follow the
whole conversation. I also tried my software CW reader; it got nothing.

If you think about it you can see that a CW reader has lots of challenges,
way more than an FSK reader. So it looks to me as if that little processor
inside the K3 is doing pretty well. Maybe it could be better, but it seems
usable as is. And really, the average qso takes place at more like 25,
which shouldn't present a problem for plain old ear copy.

73, Tony KT0NY