K9YC:
>The K2/100 with the KAT100 tuner and KDSP2 may be the best 100 w CW
contest rig in the world.
Check out the K2's close-in IMD performance at <5 kHz spacings:
http://www2.arrl.org/members-only/prodrev/pdf/lab/k2.pdf (page 21)
http://www.sherweng.com/Dayton_2004/Dynamic_Range_Data.pdf (right side)
From 5 kHz to 1 kHz spacings, ARRL shows IMD degrading from
91 dB to 67 dB. From 20 kHz to 2 kHz spacings, Sherwood shows
IMD degrading from 97 dB to 69 dB. This is mediocre performance
which is exceeded by older rigs that can be found at a fraction of
a new K2/100/DSP costing over $1500. A lot of the K2 aura stems
from its 5 kHz performance measurements, which are very good, but it
falls apart badly for signals spaced closer than 5 kHz as can be
clearly seen in ARRL's Swept IMD graph above.
To be fair, ARRL also measured Orion's Sub-RX (probably quite
similar to Jupiter) to be even worse. You can see this in the Swept
IMD graph at the top of page 21 in Orion's ETR here:
http://www2.arrl.org/members-only/prodrev/pdf/lab/orion_etrr.pdf
I have a new K2 (#4119 built last March) and love it for its
intended use (portable and QRP operation), but it does not live up
to "the best contest rig in the world". I discovered this myself
last March while listening for YA8G (very weak below noise floor)
on 1815.0 and discovered I was hearing code practice from 1817.5
where W1AW was S9+30. Now just imagine the CQ 160 CW Contest with
S9+30 signals spaced every 500 Hz! With the Inrad 763, Orion's
1 kHz spacing IMD using the Main RX is in the mid-90's according
to Sherwood's measurements, which is >25 dB better than a K2.
73, Bill W4ZV
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