[Elecraft] [KX3] DATA A Digital Modes

[Joel Black]

David,

Once again, thanks for the help.

I had my transmit audio too high. Thanks to you and my KE7X KX3 book, I reset my audio in and out of the radio and got consistent transmit output. I think the ringing I was hearing was from me overdriving my transmit audio and hearing it and the monitor on the sound card. I was actually receiving on the sound card what I was transmitting. In KE7X’s book, he recommends setting the audio to LINE IN (@ 50%) to KX3 phones (AF ~ 20 - 30) and LINE OUT (@ 10%) to KX3 mic (Mic Gain = initially 0). I finally wound up with a Mic Gain of about 20 - 21 and could see solid output with the ALC and Wattmeter on the KX3.

I *do* have the standard heatsink and, as far as I know, the temperature compensation has *not* been done on this radio. At least I didn’t do it and I don’t think the previous owner did it either. I’ve looked at the heatsinks and will probably buy the Cooler KX Plus from VE7FMN. I just haven’t sat down and ordered it. Is there any one particular you recommend?

Thank you for the advice on *unchecking* flatten in WSJT-X. I do have the filter widened out to at *least* 3.0 kHz and sometimes run it on out to 4.0 kHz.

Again, I think the ringing on transmit was from me overdriving and hearing both the transmit audio and monitor audio at the same time on the sound card. With the transmit audio now set correctly, I no longer hear the ringing I was hearing previously.

Thanks again for the help and advice.

73,
Joel - W4JBB

> On Feb 8, 2016, at 11:58 AM, David Anderson <gm4jjj at yahoo.co.uk> wrote:
> 
> Joel,
> 
> A few questions for you:
> 
> Can you tell what the transmit audio sounds like by listening using monitor on the KX3? If you have hum or low or distorted audio or something that should tell you.
> 
> Have you the standard heatsink? 
> 
> If you have sufficient transmit AF going into the KX3 the power should be stable. Start with a low level of audio, because if it is too high it will shut down and this can cause confusion as you think it may be too low.
> 
> In WSJT-X you get a strange looking spectrum if you have the flatten spectra selected. This is because of the sharp sided filter in the KX3. Untick that option. I presume you have widened the filter out in the KX3 for DATA A.
> 
> What do you mean by ringing on the transmission?
> 
> Looking forward to hearing how you are doing.
> 
> Good luck.
> 
> 73 from David GM4JJJ
> 
>> On 7 Feb 2016, at 23:07, Joel Black <joel.b.black at gmail.com> wrote:
>> 
>> Need a little help here - or at least someone to tell me if this is normal for the conditions or not.
>> 
>> I usually use my K3 connected to a Focusrite 2i2 external sound card for digital modes. I use a Mac - OS X 10.11.3. It works very well and I like it (the 2i2) even better than the previous USB sound card I used.
>> 
>> Yesterday, I got a wild hair and decided to test the KX3 with the 2i2 using WSJT-X for JT65. I connected the KX3 mic to line out and the speakers to line in on the 2i2. The first thing I noticed was the audio seems really low when trying to listen through the sound card to receive audio. Now, this may just be where I’m trying to monitor the receive audio - from the monitor jack on the front. I also noticed a large spike with a dip and then another smaller spike before leveling out on the waterfall display of WSJT-X. I have *no* audio interface going into the sound card from the KX3 so I’m wondering if this is a ground loop issue. I do not have this issue with my K3 and I have no way to connect a ground to my computer other than to use a self-tapping screw and drill a hole in the case which I am not going to do - forget it. Unless you have an iMac, you won’t understand. I switched between LINE and INSTRUMENT on the inputs of the 2i2 but didn’t get much of a change. I did *not* try turning on the 48V phantom power on the inputs. From all I can research and look at on the case, there is no “ground-lift” switch on the 2i2.
>> 
>> On the transmit side, I never could set the ALC to four bars with the fifth just flickering *and* keep output at 5 W. The power would dip down to about 3 W and then go back up to 5W. In addition, there seemed to be a little ringing when transmitting.
>> 
>> Now the KX3 is not my main radio, my K3 is. This is not an issue with the K3, but I’d like to see this work with the KX3. I know it works because others have made the KX3 work on JT65 with WSJT-X. Is there anything else I should try before building an audio isolation circuit? Some setting I’m missing? Something I haven’t done correctly?
>> 
>> Thanks for the help.
>> 
>> 73,
>> Joel - W4JBB
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