[Elecraft] RX Ant K3 Preamp vs External Preamp

[Jim Brown]

On 4/26/2020 4:32 PM, Rich wrote:
> Is it best to use the K3 internal pre-amp or add an external pre-amp to 
> the RX antenna system?

Unless you operate in a VERY quiet location, it's hard to beat the 
preamp in the K3S (and that was offered as an accessory for the K3). The 
preamp in the original K3 was not very good, and really needed the 
accessory unit they offered for 12M and above.

I have a outboard GAsFet preamp designed for 6M that is slightly better 
than the K3S preamp, and that I bought long before there was a K3. As it 
turns out, it also works well down to 12M. I used it with my K3 at the 
patch point.  I've since replaced the transverter module in my K3s to 
get that upgraded preamp.

Bob is certainly correct about the virtue of a preamp at the antenna, 
but the 6M antenna on which I would use it is within 10 ft of two 
antennas with which I run legal limit, and I have concerns that it would 
survive up there. :) My compromise is 7/8-in hard line for those 
antennas, which minimizes the loss, and thus the advantage of a 
mast-mounted preamp.

73, Jim K9YC