[Elecraft] External sound card advice needed to attach to K3

[David Wilcox]

Rick,

I think one of the main problems with this is folks (old like me and inexperienced in how the  audio side of computers and connecting them to a xcvr) who don’t understand fully the concept of what you are talking about once they set up a dongle or other sound card and it works they don’t change anything and may keep sending computer sounds and noises, etc., without knowing it.  I hope someone reading this will direct me and others to a site or two that help us understand what is going on.

I just used a cheap Amazon sound card when hooking up two different FT8 xcvr kits (QRPGuys and CWTD)  to my W10 laptop and watched paint dry last winter while in Florida.  Noting exciting so when we came back home in the spring never hooked them up again. Still if the bug hits again I would like to understand more.

I read every email on this and other sites re FT8, etc., so again, if someone can direct me to a good site or two to assist my weak understanding I would be interested.  

Dave K8WPE since 1960 and crystal sets before that.

David J. Wilcox’s iPad

> On Jan 1, 2021, at 11:51 AM, Rick Bates, NK7I <rick.nk7i at gmail.com> wrote:
> 
> Precisely why (since MS can foul up audio settings routinely on any random update) it's a bad idea.  Leaving one small check mark in a lower level driver setting (looping/routing audio) that leaves a mic hot is but one example.  There are  too  many ways to make an error.  Using the computer sound card on a radio is not 'set and forget'.
> 
> We still have a large base of folks that don't get what is required to operate a clean (legal) station; we all learn as we go.  Setting boundaries is part of that edcucation (OS stays in OS, radio stays in radio).
> 
> Turning off the OS sounds, one would also lose features that the OS and apps that are useful (like JTAlert "DX" announcements, Zoom/Skype audio).  The small cost of a sound device (or second sound card) for the radio(s) is certainly worth the gains and lowering of the risks.
> 
> 73,
> Rick NK7I
> 
>> On 1/1/2021 9:34 AM, Mike Harris via Elecraft wrote:
>> Not really. It all boils down to _*understanding what you are doing*_. Windows sounds can be turned off. The best sound card in the world isn't going to stop anyone from transmitting garbage. Understanding includes setting the audio levels correctly throughout the system. I've used my PC sound system with two simple audio cables for years. Now I have upgraded my K3 with the K3s I/O and simply pipe audio, CAT, PTT and PC CW down the one USB cable.
>> 
>> Regards,
>> 
>> Mike VP8NO
>> 
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