Having just completed being host station for W1AW/5 and also a multi-op
for
the ARRL June VHF Contest where we had several guest operators at W5ZN who
ranged from highly skilled HF ops, some mid level ops and some Rookie ops
I
have been reading this thread with both interest and humor.
I have four K3's in the station here. I like 'em, best performing and best
sounding radio I have ever owned but I have tweaked them for ME over time.
Previous radios here (Yaesu FT1000 and Icom IC-7700) have also been great
sound radios but I tweaked them for ME. After this past week it has become
quite obvious, at least for me, that:
1. The factual results of performance tests by Rob Sherwood and others
really can't be debated. Oh, you can debate facts just to hear yourself
pontificate but it will not change the facts.
** Those tests are somewhat limited since the frequency used is seldom
mentioned. IMO 10M is the place where RF performance falls for the HF bands
and phase noise varies per band. A few tests appear to have operator or
equipment error, they certainly arent the last word.
So, when it comes down to "I don't like the way the RX audio sounds for me
it is simply:
1. Put three hams in a room and you will get six different opinions about
how the audio sounds. We're all getting old and our hearing is
changing/deteriorating.
** We are not talking about hi fi audiophools here, if anyone cant hear
300-3000Hz its not a radio he needs.
2. The Icom owners want the K3 to immediately sound just like the Icom at
their shack that they have tweaked, peaked and pampered to their ear's
audio pattern AND their shacks acoustic properties.
3. Ditto for Yaesu and Kenwood.
4. Most hams want to bring their own headphones that work great on their
radio but sounds horrible on other radios.......so it is the radio's fault
and not their headset. I actually had this debate with an op this weekend
and he learned there is a difference.
** Why is that if they are the correct impedance? Ive yet to experience that
problem among the KIY family; any headphone should be plug-n-play between
quality rigs. At real contest stations the headphones come with the operator
unless they are the same brand he uses at home. Some are strictly guest ops
with no home station.
Ive been DXing and contesting since the late 50's where there was
considerable variance, from high impedance off the audio amp grid, 500 and
3.2-8 Ohms off the output transformer.
5. The station owner (me, in this case) gets pretty PO'ed when a visiting
ham says his radios sound like crap resulting is a response from the
station owner thanking the op for visiting the station for the first and
LAST time.
** More power to the person for speaking up, if you asked him to operate you
should be ready to make adjustments in your fussy non standard equipment.
Not being able to handle criticism is poor form as shown by many on the K3
forum. When I go to a restaurant or hotel and the service/quality isnt what
I expect and if it isnt corrected THEN I AM the one to not return.
Just wondering if maybe poor RX audio quality is why some hams like to
confirm they actually made a QSO in the "Chat rooms" rather then on the
air.......just speculating, different topic but couldn't resist the urge.
** Wouldnt know, I wouldnt bother being in one.
Now back to setting my K3's back to my personal hearing preferences.
--
73 Joel W5ZN
www.w5zn.org
** Thats what I like about my TS-950SD, it is high performance as in a Caddy
CTS-V and not cranky as with many high end European cars or medium quality
with a fancy option package. A guest is running DX here within a few minutes
of sitting down.
Carl
KM1H
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