Ed K1EP wrote:
Now that the time has come to chose filters, which ones will you
get? What are people doing? The easiest is to outfit both
receivers with five filters each. With that money, you can buy
another radio. Will you put a wide and narrow filter in each
radio? I primarily use CW, but do both CW and SSB contesting. Do
you outfit one RX with CW filters and the other with SSB? Or do you
make one RX the wide filter and the other the one with the narrow
filters? I think I might go with the standard SSB filter, the
400Hz, and either the 1.8 or 2.1K. What is everyone else doing?
For the Field Test of the K3, the Field Testers were required to
purchase AT LEAST the 2.8kHz (INRAD) and 400Hz (INRAD) filters.
Of course, we were at liberty to add other filters as well, if
we felt the desire / need.
Being frugal (my kids call it 'being cheap') I opted to purchase
only the 'required' filters, figuring that most folks would only
buy what little they felt they could 'get by' with... AND that I
wanted to kinda try the K3 at a semi-worst case scenario... minimal
filtering. I also wanted to hold off a bit, to see how the proposed
'user-programmable' xtal filters will turn out, and I didn't want
to have a 'full boat' of filters and then have to REMOVE some in
order to fit in the variable filters once they are available to
customers.
So far, I've not been (at all) disappointed with my initial choice!
In the IARU contest this past weekend, I found the K3 to be easily
as selective as my K2, most times, quite a bit more selective, and
less susceptible to nearby (quite loud) signals.
As I cranked the bandwidth control down from 2.8kHz toward the 50Hz
lower limit, I could hear myself 'peeling off' layers of interfering
signals and more easily singling out the signal I wanted to hear in
the first place.
When The B/W finally rolled down to the 400Hz point, I could HEAR when
the K3 automatically switched from the 2.8kHz xtal filter to the 400Hz
xtal filter as a few more strong signals just 'dropped away' from the
passband between the 450Hz and 400Hz B/W settings.
What would I do differently now? Hmmm... well, IF I were not holding
off buying more filters (waiting for the variable versions), I'd
probably see about finding a moderately wide CW filter... in the 1kHz
B/W range, and install it. I think that'll give me a good set of tools
for operating both SSB and CW. While the 2.8KHz filter does a fine job
for SSB, and a pretty decent job (in concert with the DSP) for wider
CW bandwidths, having a mid-range CW filter would, I think, be a nice
addition to the arsenal for CW ops.
Now, what about the 250Hz or the 200Hz xtal filters...?
____________________________________________________________________
WARNING: Very personal OPINIONS follow, and I REFUSE(!) to get into
a debate with ANYONE (of or off reflector) about them... if you feel
differently, that's why they're PERSONAL OPINIONS.
____________________________________________________________________
PERSONALLY, I find that 85%-90% of my CW operating takes place at a
bandwidth of about 1kHz... even while contesting. This is because I
LIKE being able to hear what's going on either side of the frequency
on which I'm operating. In a CW contest, so few(!) operators do a
really creditable job of zero beating your signal that I very often find
them calling me up to 600Hz, or more off frequency. If I'm using a really
narrow bandwidth filter (xtal or DSP, doesn't matter), there's a very
large chance that I'll miss them calling me, and we'll both mot only
miss a QSO, but I'll waste additional time calling CQ again, when I could
have been making a Q instead. I let my brain do some of the required
'filtering' of signals, rather than becoming dependent upon a 'mechanical'
means, which is much more subjective, to do it for me. If I get into a
situation where there are some really BIG signals almost right on top of
me (or the guy I'm trying to work), I can always crank in some more
filtering, BUT I don't do it until it is necessary... and so far, the
DSP in the K3 (with the assistance of the 400Hz xtal filter) and been
more than adequate for this purpose.
I have a friend who insists in running his 250Hz CW filter all the time,
especially during CW contests! I've listened to him "running stations" on
a band, and I never cease to be amazed at how many callers he completely
MISSES because he allows himself to become 'mesmerized' by his almost
complete 'dependence' upon an the use of an often too narrow bandwidth
filter. Don't get me wrong, very narrow filters are nice, but I find that
too many of us seem to become too dependent upon their use, when we should
be allowing our brains to do some of that work.
SOAPBOX OFF...
I'm REALLY looking forward to seeing IF the Elecraft variable bandwidth
xtal filters can become a reality. If not, I'll probably add a 1kHz CW
filter to my mix.
For the 2nd RX, which I've ordered as well, but which is not yet available
to the Field Testers, I'll probably want a similar filter setup... esp.
if I'm going to use it in a SO2R setting or even in SO1R as well.
73,
Tom Hammond N0SS an old CW 'coot' who is WAY too opinionated.
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