Lee, The WPX contest was an interesting experience with the K3. I was working 670 contacts in single op all band non assisted high pwr mode. I am not a very experienced contester, but I have been working a number of SSB contests with my MP over the past 2-3 years.
My impression of the K3 is similar to what you and Mark Roz describe. First I thought it was the headphones but soon I realized that the radio sounds a little different that I am used to. Some high pitched audio appeared very sharp, and less filtered than I am used to and splatter was hard to fight. I was normally starting with a 2.4 kc bandwidth, working my way down below 2 kc when there was a lot of splatter. I also noticed that I had to center the passband very low in most cases to dig out the signal. That seemed a little different depending on the spectrum energy in the received signal, but most often my passband was tuned very low for best receive. After the WPX experience I am now willing to try a sharper SSB filer, I think it is needed. I also tried noise reduction as higher bands sometimes where very noisy and signals weak. For me, DSP NR never really worked well. The NR in the K3 seems to do a pretty nice job, but still my brain is far better. I have also noticed the fluctuation in output, not being sure if it was my low band antennas rocking in the wind or something else. I read Sunday about some SSB issues in the current firmware release, so they might be dealt with soon. Unfortunately I updated my firmware right before the contest. On the positive note I have to say that the K3 is well thought trough. I feel comfortable with the physical layout and the radio is very easy to operate. Most of the time I used the filters in shift/width mode, not LO/HI and sometimes I was running with AGC off using RF-gain instead. Would be interesting to hear others experience. With 600 radios out there, there should be quite a few that's been exercised this weekend. 73 de Björn /SM0MDG & 7S0X On 080331 15:31 , "Lee Buller" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > I would like to make a few comments and ask some questions. This is by no > means a put-down of the the K3, because I am not sure I am operating the rig > correctly. After all it is a SDR and it is new. > > During my first foray into SSB Contesting with the K3 during WPX, I found that > I need either: > > 1. Understand more about the DSP and the controls for BW, Hcut and Lcut > > 2. Obtain a narrower roofing filter for SSB - like a 1.8 Khz filter > > 3. Or both. > > I spent some time trying to find the sweet spot in the radio for SSB using the > 2.8 Khz filter. I don't think I found it. At least, I am not satisfied. > > I tried narrowing up the filter bandwidth to 2.4 or 2.2....some times 1.8. > I tried shifting it up and down the bandpass. > I tried to use High Cut and Low Cut depending on where the offending signal > was coming from. > AGC was on Slow with the standard settings. > Used the RIT a lot > > It seemed I was always fighting some sort of side band splatter or stations > close in on the frequency. Maybe it was just a crowded 20 meter band, but the > same things happened on 40 meters. > > Do I need to go to a 1.8 Khz filter to give the DSP a break? > Do I need to understand and play with the RX more to make sure I am doing it > right. > > I would like to some feedback and comments on how other people set up their > K3s for SSB contesting. > > I want to learn more about this radio. > > Lee - K0WA _______________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Post to: Elecraft@mailman.qth.net You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com
