Bill,
What is your setting for AGC - THR? It sounds like you may have it set
to a low value. I have mine set to 20 (you'll need recent firmware to
enable this), and find that setting the AF gain to a comfortable
listening level positions the background band noise way down for all but
the very weakest of signals. Yes, you'll end up riding the AF gain a
bit, but the audio sure sounds great.
73, Dale
WA8SRA
On 11/24/2012 2:59 PM, Bill Clarke wrote:
Hiss is my biggest complaint regarding my K3. To cut down the
irritation I send the audio to a pair of Behringer amplified studio
speakers and cut back on the highs on the internal speaker equalizer.
I also have played considerably with the K3's RX Eq and with the AGC.
Further, I have set the AGC back so that it does not immediately rise
the background noise when a loud signal stops. Don't forget to add the
ATT into the mix - it can really help when the noise is bad.
The "noise" is, to me, the background band noise - with QRM and QRN. I
live in a rural area where the typical daytime noise level is less
than S1. At that level, I don't think there should be anything coming
from the speakers. When the bands are noisy - well, simply put, the K3
is hard to continue listening to.
I have listened to a TS590 and it IS a quieter receiver and more
pleasant to listen to for hours at a time. I own a couple of TS480s
and they are both more pleasant to listen to in the long run. All that
said, my settings have brought the K3 to _nearly_ as good as the
Kenwoods - which is _nearly_ acceptable. To be fair, both the Kenwoods
and the K3 need operator made menu settings to attain the desired RX
audio.
I have the P3 and some extra SSB and AM filters and boards - so I am
deep into life with the K3. Everything is extra on the K3 (filters,
SWL listening, AM, tuner, etc.) - but - - -after about $3600 I have a
rig that is about equal to the TS590. Ya Ya! I know that is a harsh
statement, but for my purposes it is quite accurate.
I operate only on 160, 75, and 40 meters. Nets and rag chew. Hence, I
enjoy serious armchair copy.
Someone asked the other day if I would rather have a 590 and I replied
in the affirmative. However, I am not about to take a thousand dollar
licking as punishment for having wanted a USA made product.
So................ I'll be keeping my K3.
Bill W2BLC
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