[Elecraft] ALC knob control missing on my K3

[Don Wilhelm]

Rick,

Have you bought a new vehicle lately?  My 2017 model (moving from a 2008 
model) had more bells and whistles than I could imagine.  The salesman 
made an attempt at familiarizing me with the various functions, but the 
mind became saturated during his demo, and I concentrated only on what 
was necessary to drive it home!

I had to read the owner's manual to be able to deal properly with the 
vehicle.   So RTFM.  All transceivers are not the same.  What is OK for 
some is not OK for others.

Case in point is the way the Elecraft transceivers control power.  Other 
amateur transceivers can control the power output in an open loop with 
the amount of audio that is produced.
Elecraft transceivers control power output in a closed loop and must be 
treated differently.  The manual statement to adjust the audio for voice 
operation for 5 to 7 bars on the ALC meter, and for soundcard digital 
modes to set the audio for 4 bars solid and the 5th bar flashing must be 
respected.  The power output must be controlled by the POWER knob, and 
not the audio level.

Read the manual - that information I gave above is not intuitive because 
much internet advice and even the instructions for some of the 
application software do not consider the Elecraft method of power output 
control.

73,
Don W3FPR

On 3/27/2019 7:25 PM, Rick WA6NHC wrote:
> Heh, I'm the exact opposite.  It's one of my evaluation test points that 
> if the device/software is truly user intuitive, friendly etc, the manual 
> become superfluous, rarely needed.  But for picking out the nits and 
> finer subtle details these days, one must read because ultimately, they 
> matter.
> 
> Hurray for PDF and the search function!  You can keep a van load of 
> 'books' on your phones now.
> 
> Rick NHC
> 
> On 3/27/2019 4:11 PM, Jim Brown wrote:
>> It's amazing the things you can learn simply by reading the manual. 
>> It's the first thing I do with an new product.
>>