[Elecraft] K3 upgrade to K3S question

[briancom]

Right on.  The new board preamp only works 12 through 6 M.  More gain would be helpful on 17 and 15 M.  I hope Elecraft can open up access to  the new preamp on those bands-even if it is 6 dB.
My experience (older K3) with an external preamp and decent antennas showed that some extra gain on 17 and 15 M helped.  15M is an especially quiet band and extra gain was welcome.  Also it helped overcome the 3 dB loss in signal when the subrx was sharing the main ant.
Now that I have relocated to another QTH and have much poorer antennas and lower sunspot numbers, the extra gain on 15 and 17 would be welcome. Most guys are hearing me better than I am hearing them.  More gain on those bands might open up new layers of guys to work.
Of course there is the question guys always ask : Why does it do anything placed at the RX front end.
The fact of the matter seems to be that even if you just think it helps, it is a  benefit.  Measurements made with a signal generator show the new preamp does improve the MDS under the condx of no atmospheric noise present.  Some of this might indeed show up for quiet bands.
73 de Brian
.

Sent from my iPad

> On Mar 13, 2017, at 9:07 AM, Dauer, Edward <edauer at law.du.edu> wrote:
> 
> A question about the KXV3B –
> 
> I have done the synth upgrades but none of the others, yet.  I am considering doing the KXV3B and the KIO3B.  
> 
> At present I have a PR6-10 hanging off the back of the K3.  I have found it very helpful on 10 meters and on 15 and maybe a bit on 20.  I have not done any laboratory-grade measurements, but a simple on-off on 15 is convincing that the preamp is of use there, and 20 is maybe or maybe not.  
> 
> The KXV3B Manual is clear that band selection should be done on 12, 10, and 6.  I would be disinclined to doing the upgrade if I lost the preamp advantage I now have on 15.  Does anyone know if the preamp in the KXV3B is identical to the outboard PR6-10 and, if so, whether the K3 with an new KXV3B will accept the preamp ON designation for bands other than 12-10-6?
> 
> Thanks,
> 
> Ted, KN1CBR
> 
>    ----------------------------------------------------------------------
> 
>    Message: 1
>    Date: Sun, 12 Mar 2017 06:30:10 -0700
>    From: Ed Muns <ed at w0yk.com>
>    To: frantz at pwpconsult.com
>    Cc: elecraft at mailman.qth.net
>    Subject: Re: [Elecraft] K3 upgrade to K3S question
>    Message-ID: <mailman.29877.1489373738.7384.elecraft at mailman.qth.net>
>    Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8
> 
>    The KIO3B has both RS232 and USB.
> 
>    All 3 upgrades are easy to do together.? Now takes me less than 30 minutes total for 2 KSYN3As, KXV3A and KIO3B.
> 
>    73,
>    Ed W0YK
> 
> 
> 
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