[Elecraft] K2 Question: Is the DSP Board a Worthwhile upgrade?

[Don Wilhelm]

David,

The KAF2 is mainly for CW use.  It provides a great peaking filter at 
the frequency that you have set it to (presumably your sidetone pitch).
It also has a low pass filter that is in-circuit at all times.  That can 
reduce band noise hiss for all modes.

The KDSP2 also provides filtering for CW, SSB and data modes.  If you 
are bothered by signals nearby in frequency, the straight-sided filters 
of the KDSP2 will be an advantage.

The KDSP2 also provides noise reduction algorithms, although turning on 
NR in any transceiver can introduce distortion for voice signals.  How 
bad that is will be determined by the aggressiveness of the algorithms.  
The KDSP2 does allow a wide range of settings, and you may have to 
experiment with those setting if the defaults do not satisfactorily 
handle your particular noise situation.

So, not directly answering your question, the KDSP2 can provide 
filtering as good as the KAF2 (even better), but if the operator is CW 
oriented, the additional cost of the KDSP2 option may not provide the 
improvement expected - for SSB operation, there is no choice, the KAF2 
is not useful on SSB (other than the Low Pass Filter) and the KDSP2 is 
the only real choice between the two.

73,
Don W3FPR

On 11/4/2015 6:44 PM, David Inger wrote:
> A friend has a fairly recent K2 with the KAF2 audio filter option.  He asked
> me to remove the KAF2, build the KDSP2 board and install it in his K2.  This
> got me to thinking:  I also have a K2 wiht the KAF2 installed.  My friend
> works mainly SSB; I work main CW and digital modes.  Is the DSP board a
> significant improvement over the bare K2 or even with the KAF2 installed
> (which seems to be tailored for CW reception)?  In general, radios  that I
> have owned with AF DSP have been pretty much a disappointment.  So is the
> KDSP2 a worthwhile and cost-effective upgrade?
>   
>