On Wed, 8 Sep 2010 22:56:07 -0500, William Hein wrote: >Reading the K3 FAQ leads me to think that I'll want to use the XVTR IN jack >for a MW rx antenna, true? Or will just the normal RX ANT IN jack do?
The K3 with KBP3 allows you to use ANY of the antenna inputs to receive on the AM broadcast band. I'm not sure what you mean by critical listening, so I'll tell you my experience. I am NOT presently an active AM SWL, but I did a LOT of it as a kid. The widest filter I have is the 2.7 kHz filter, I've set the radio for LSB RX and maximum bandwidth (4kHz) and tuned around the band. It sounds VERY good. I've only listened to speech, but it's gotten very hard to find music on the AM broadcast band nowadays. I have Beverages aimed at the four quadrants (full wave on 160M), and they are very good RX antennas for the AM MW broadcast band. I've also used my 80M dipoles and 160M verticals to listen on the AM band, and they work great too. So I'd say yes, the K3 should make a great RX for the AM MW band. For more serious listening, you'll want a much wider roofing filter. It is my understanding that you could simply wind your own coil and add a suitable capacitor to form a series resonant circuit. It's on my "to do" list. :) Another RX that I STRONGLY recommend for the AM broadcast band is a GE Super Radio Three. This radio was originally designed by a consortium of AM broadcast engineers at least 20 years ago, and it's a real beauty. It's built in the form factor of a boom box, but with a very good front end, Medium and Wide band IF, a very good 2-way speaker driven be a decent audio stage, and a headphone output. The FM section is also pretty decent. There is a very good built-in loop antenna and a single rabbit ear for FM, with terminals for external antennas for both bands. It is MONO on both AM and FM. Believe it or not, this is one of the best AM broadcast RX you can buy at amy price. The original selling price was $40, later increased to $50. It was first recommended to me by a colleague who was chief engineer of ABC's radio operations in Chicago when I needed a high quality AM RX to feed the VIP suites in a stadium for which I was designing a sound system (WGN AM did the play by play of the games). The sound contractor thought I was nuts when I specified it, but it worked great. They've been out of production for several years, and you don't want the latest production, which was a really crummy copy sold by Thompson after they bought the company/product. I own three of the Super Radio III. I've never seen the earlier versions. A search on your favorite auction site will find them for sale. If you want high fidelity audio, you want the SuperRadio III. If you want absolute max sensitivity and bulletproof front end, the K3 is the choice. 73, Jim K9YC ______________________________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
