[Elecraft] K3 - PSK31 - AGC/No AGC

[Jim Brown]

On Tue,10/27/2015 3:50 PM, Wes (N7WS) wrote:
> I never turn AGC off on any mode.  Never understood why anyone would 
> want to but I've only been licensed for 57 years, so maybe I missed 
> something. 

I started three years before you, so maybe I remember more from back 
then. :) In those older days, it was quite common for CW ops to turn 
down the RF gain and turn up the AF gain. In effect, this more or less 
disables AGC. It can also help with listener fatigue with lots of static 
QRN.

BUT -- this can be taken to extremes, and doing so is, I think, 
responsible for those hams who complain of the K3 being "hissy" and 
having "clicks" when switching bandwidth. One of the first important 
things we had to learn in the world of pro audio is setting audio gains 
properly to minimize both distortion and noise. For every gain stage, 
there is a Goldilocks-like "sweet spot" to keep the signal away from 
clipping (distortion) and the noise floor (hiss, clicks, etc.).

73, Jim K9YC