Correct Ron. With slow QSK like some rigs have, you would hear nothing between characters but the K3 is fast enough to allow the tiny window of noise to pop through and to some, it sounds like a thump or a click and actually in a way, it is. If you tune in a steady carrier and key at about 40 wpm, you will hear short clicks. That's the carrier popping through and those short impulses get interpreted as clicks by our ears. I believe there have been a few faster QSK rigs in the past but not many. Some of the highly respected TenTec rigs had very smooth QSK but not quiet as fast as we might think. The fastest QSK I ever saw was the original IC-706. You could tune in a steady carrier, key the rig with dits at 60 WPM and actually hear a tone. It was awesome BUT the 706 was chopping the dits down to almost nothing and leaving a nice, wide window between them so we could hear the carrier. Of course, the poor guy on the other end had a hard time copying those choppy little dits and the loud relay sounded like a machine gun. So faster isn't always better. Some say the IC-781 had the fastest QSK ever. I had one for a while but never tested it above 50 wpm. If the band noise becomes a problem, you have several choices with the K3. Reduce the RF gain down to the noise threshold, turn up the sidetone level, open the bandwidth to take the bite off the noise or just add some delay. Some CW ops are so distracted by the band noise that they simply can't function. For those folks, just use slow VOX and keep your monologs short lest the guy on the other end fades away or falls to sleep :*)
Steve N4LQ n...@carolina.rr.com ----- Original Message ----- From: "Ron NA9F" <rjhin...@verizon.net> To: <elecraft@mailman.qth.net> Sent: Saturday, June 27, 2009 10:40 AM Subject: Re: [Elecraft] K3 QSK > > Merv, > After reading your post I played with the K3 more and I think you are > right > about it being an impression of thumps. To me it is high band noise on 40 > and 80 m. I went up to the higher > bands where there is very little band noise and do not hear the thumping. > I > also switched back > to the low bands and heard it. Then switched to a dummy load and I did not > hear the thumping. > Thanks for shedding more light on this subject. > > Ron NA9F > > > > Merv Schweigert wrote: > >>> >>> What I believe I am hearing though is not an artifact but just high band >>> noise between dits that give an impression of thumps. The high band >>> noise >>> is >>> being gated by TR switching. I suspect if I didn't live in a high noise >>> environment I wouldn't here this. > > -- > View this message in context: > http://n2.nabble.com/K3-QSK-tp3146071p3166606.html > Sent from the Elecraft mailing list archive at Nabble.com. > > ______________________________________________________________ > 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 ______________________________________________________________ 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
