[Elecraft] KX3 settings for digital and other modes

[Don Wilhelm]

Frank,

If you have the audio level set correctly, there should be no distortion 
unless the KX3 power control mechanism has a problem. The 1st 4 bars of 
the KX3 ALC meter are not showing ALC at all. ALC activation does not 
start until the 5th bar.

Yes, you can operate into a dummy and listen with another receiver - it 
does not have to be an SDR receiver, most any will do.

I have not heard of a soundcard which would apply an effective ground on 
the right channel (PTT).

73,
Don W3FPR

On 4/24/2018 8:48 PM, Frank O'Donnell wrote:
> Don, thanks for the comments. I didn't mention it in my prior post, 
> but setting the mike gain to achieve ~4.5 bars on the ALC meter is 
> indeed something I paid a lot of attention to.
>
> On that general topic, I've heard others talk about a couple of 
> strategies for making sure that you're getting a clean digital signal 
> out that isn't overmodulated. One is to have a local friend take a 
> look at your signal as received at their location. Another apparently 
> is to run your transceiver into a dummy load, then use an SDR or 
> similar receiver close by with a hank of wire as an antenna to sample 
> the signal you're putting out. I can't remember, however, if those 
> discussions were in the context of Elecraft radios. Does it seem 
> reasonable to run my KX3 into a dummy load (perhaps with the power out 
> turned down) and listen to it with, say, an SDRplay to evaluate the 
> signal out? Keeping the levels low of course to protect the SDR.
>
> One other point about the audio setup for digital. When I was getting 
> my gear configured, I tried using a couple of different soundcard 
> devices. One of them seemed to work fine with both right and left 
> stereo channels plugged in between the soundcard and KX3. When I tried 
> the other soundcard, however, I got a PTT error when powering up the 
> KX3. After I unplugged the stereo channel on that soundcard that went 
> to the ring connector on the KX3 mike in, everything worked fine. Is 
> that a problem known to occur with some soundcards?
>
> Thanks again,
>
> Frank K6FOD
>
>
> On 4/24/18 1:24 PM, Don Wilhelm wrote:
>> Frank,
>>
>> As you have indicated, those settings will get you started.
>> But definitely use DATA A, not USB.
>> Reason is that Compression and EQ is automatically set to zero, and 
>> your SSB settings can remain undisturbed.
>>
>> You mic gain setting is the most important when using data modes. Set 
>> it so you have 4 bars solid on the ALC meter with the 5th bar flashing.
>>
>> You may want to read the article dealing with setting the audio gains 
>> (yes, there can be up to 3) that is on my website www.w3fpr.com.  
>> Scroll the left column down to the bottom and click on the link to 
>> the article.
>>
>> There is no sense in setting RS232 to a slower baud rate unless the 
>> application software demands it.
>>
>> For voice and CW modes, you want to have AGC on.  TX and RX EQ can be 
>> set to whatever your ears like.
>>
>>
>> 73,
>> Don W3FPR
>>
>> On 4/24/2018 4:02 PM, Frank O'Donnell wrote:
>>> Hi all, new ham here and a KX3 owner for three weeks. In the time 
>>> I've had the radio, I've used it exclusively for FT8. The first 
>>> thing I did was to set it up for digital modes using settings from a 
>>> YouTube video by K5ACL. Specifically:
>>>
>>>
>>> AGC MD: off (default is on)
>>>
>>> Mike bias: off (default is on)
>>>
>>> RS232: Set to desired baud rate. KX3 supports max 38400 baud
>>>
>>> RX EQ: off
>>>
>>> TX EQ: off
>>>
>>> TX GAIN: ALC 25 (this is the default)
>>>
>>> Mode: USB
>>>
>>>
>>> This all worked fine. Not long thereafter II changed from setting 
>>> the KX3 mode to USB, and have been using the Data mode instead.
>>>
>>
>>
>
>