I am relatively new to the K3 and I am not a contester. I did want to give my reactions to the 1.8 filter as a second SSB filter. I have one and I have been listening through it.
The way the filters work, the K3 does not kick in the filter until you narrow the bandwidth to that filter's size. So, if you get the 1.8 all bandwidths between 1.9 and 2.7 or 8 will run off of the standard 2.7 or 2.8 filter, and the 1.8 sits idle. What I have observed is the narrower the filter the weirder and more unnatural it sounds in SSB. At 1.8 you have filtered out a substantial part of the normal SSB signal. What left can be understood but it is not pleasant or comfortable to the ear. You may find the filter very helpful for picking out a weak signal under difficult conditions, but you would not want to use that for very long, and not for casual talk. I would suspect the 2.1 filter would be more natural sounding and you might find that more pleasant to use. There has been some talk of a variable frequency SSB filter. It might make sense to wait for that to come out and see what people think of it. Keep in mind that you can't transmit on AM , FM or ESSB unless you have one or both of the wider filters. Finally, I think the Xverter/IO module is really worth getting. One of the fun things to do is to use a computer (or the upcoming P3) for a spectrum scope. There are a lot of neat things you can do with that, and you absolutely need the IF out for that to work. I will finally offer my observation that the K3 is one fine radio and you will not regret the decision to get one. ______________________________________________________________ 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
