[Elecraft] Specs KIO3-B internal sound card

[Richard Lamont]

On 19/09/17 22:05, Udo Langenohl - DK5YA wrote:

> I'm looking for specs of the internal sound device which is part of the
> KIO3B board but couldn't find any on the Elecraft web site.
> Anybody out there who's got detailed information?
>
> I'm just preparing all the stuff we gonna take with us for our 144/432
> EME DXPedition to DU (DX7EME) in November and I would like to reduce
> parts we have to carry as much as I can. We have two K3 with us, usually
> connected to very high quality external sound devices (Focusrite
> Scarlett, Delta 44). Since we are doing moonbounce (JT65b) and each and
> every dB counts we are focussing on lowest noise possible in our sound
> devices. If the internal sound card of the KIO3B will meet our needs we
> could propably reduce weight and lower all the cable mess a lot.

While EME needs every last fraction of a dB of RF performance, the same
is not true of an audio interface used for JT65. In this respect, EME is
less demanding than day-to-day HF operation, where the passband may have
20 or more signals of widely varying strengths.

As long as you follow the WSJT-X authors' advice about setting levels, a
consumer-grade audio interface such as that in the KIO3B is more than
adequate. A studio-quality audio interface will add nothing to the
performance of your station.

WSJT-X requires audio input as 16-bit linear PCM, sampled at 48 kHz.
(The next thing it does is to downsample to 12 kHz.) So there's no
advantage in greater bit-depths or sampling frequencies.

73,
Richard G4DYA