Hi all, Personally I wish Elecraft had resisted the temptation to include the 6m band in the K3. Grafting the 6m band, which is a VHF band, on to a HF transceiver will always be a compromise at best and at worst it might affect HF performance negatively. In my opinion ICOM made a good choice in their low end transceivers (IC-718, IC-7200) to eliminate 6m and FM mode. Both choices are generally unneeded by HF operators and both make good engineering optimizations possible for the mainstream HF modes.
Knut - AB2TC W7GJ, Lance wrote: > > > Julian, G4ILO wrote: > >> I'm not saying that performance on six meters should have been higher >> than >> the performance on the HF bands. I'm saying that it should not be worse >> than >> an IC-756 PRO III, a TS-2000 or an FT-2000 would be, considering the >> claims >> made about the K3's performance. >> >> I have no idea of the proportion of K3 users who will never use 6 meters >> in >> any serious way. However I think there are quite a few, such as myself, >> who >> will have some fun on the band from time to time simply because modern HF >> transceivers now include it. I'm certainly not serious enough about 6m to >> spend money on a preamp for it, so I'm feeling a little short-changed >> after >> receiving information that the K3 is so deaf on 6m that you need one. The >> other radios mentioned above certainly are usable on 6m without a preamp >> by >> all but the most diehard enthusiast who would probably want it at the >> masthead anyway. >> >> ----- >> Julian, G4ILO. K2 #392 K3 #222. >> http://www.g4ilo.com/ G4ILO's Shack http://www.ham-directory.com/ Ham >> Directory http://www.g4ilo.com/kcomm.html KComm for Elecraft K2 and K3 > > Hello Julian, > > Yes, other HF/6m transceivers such as the IC756 and IC746 are also > relatively > insensitive when it comes to 6m. I understand the typical HF/6m > transceiver has a > front end noise figure in the neighborhood of 5 or 6 dB on 6m and some are > much > worse. Part of the tradeoff for handling strong signals on 20m I suppose. > For most > strong signal applications it makes little difference. > > Putting a low noise preamp such as the one offered by Elecraft ahead of > your receiver > typically will give you a dB or so more sensitivity, provided you have low > loss > feedline. If you are using lossy old RG8 or RG58 then you might as well > not bother > with a preamp because if there was a weak signal there at the antenna, it > will be > gone at your rig anyway. For strong signal openings who cares about a dB > or two? > For weak signal contacts from a quiet QTH, that can make all the > difference. > > It is great to have a rig like the K3 where you have an option. GL and VY > 73, Lance > -- > Lance Collister, W7GJ (ex: WN3GPL, WA3GPL, WA1JXN, WA1JXN/C6A, ZF2OC/ZF8) > P.O. Box 73 > Frenchtown, MT 59834 USA > QTH: DN27UB > TEL: (406) 626-5728 > URL: http://www.bigskyspaces.com/w7gj > 2m DXCC #11/6m DXCC #815 > > > _______________________________________________ > 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 > ----- AB2TC - Knut -- View this message in context: http://n2.nabble.com/6M-Preamp-tp1366337p1370384.html Sent from the Elecraft mailing list archive at Nabble.com. _______________________________________________ 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
