[3830] WPX CW K5AF SOAB LP

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                    CQWW WPX Contest, CW

Call: K5AF
Operator(s): K5AF
Station: K5AF

Class: SOAB LP
QTH: STX
Operating Time (hrs): 8.5
Radios: SO2R

Summary:
 Band  QSOs
------------
  160:    0
   80:    8
   40:   96
   20:  176
   15:   62
   10:    4
------------
Total:  346  Prefixes = 201  Total Score = 130,449

Club: 

Comments:

My second K3 arrived Thursday evening, so I hooked it up and everything worked
great.  This was my maiden contest voyage for the new radios!

I sold my pair of Omni VIs in order to buy the K3s.  So far, I'm not sure there
is a clear-cut advantage with the K3.

Likes:  

- The receive audio is very pleasant.  
- The receiver is quiet and I made some contacts with weak stations that I may
not have been able to make with any other radio.
- I have my headphone switching set up so that I can switch to just the active
radio and utilize the audio effects.  Pretty cool!  The spatial effect helps
with sorting out signals, you can pick out callsigns in a crowded passband even
with the filters wide open!
- The radio interfaces well, there was always a slight lag with my Omni Six on
frequency display, mode changes, etc. with TR.  The K3 updates quickly and the
shift keys even work!
- Good QSK.

Dislikes:

- Ergomnomics:  After all the hype on K3 ergonomics, I am disappointed.  Why
the designers would waste a dual concentric control by putting sub controls on
it is beyond me!  IMHO, the bottom dual concentric (DC) control should be AF
and RF gain, the dual concentric control above it should be PBT(shift) and
width, on the inner and outer controls respectively. Replicate those controls
for the sub on a separate stalk.  The small knobs for shift and width  are
almost useless because they are small and the encoder interval is not granular
enough to really make precise adjustments, IMHO. 
-  AGC:  My ears are still ringing from some very loud signals that the AGC
apparently did not knock down to an acceptable level.  With the Omni, I could
monitor one transceiver with the other and the AGC made it sound like just any
other signal on the band.  I need to study the manual to see how to taylor the
AGC to my liking.
-  In-band interference:  I'm accustomed to doing same-band SO2R with the
Omnis, in other words, call CQ on radio one and listening on the same band
(usually >20kHz away) for S&P possibilites.  Can't do that as well with the K3,
quite a bit more hash on transmit.  However, interference between individual
bands is excellent, as good or maybe better than the Omni.
-  Display:  Real hard to tell what options are selected.  Things like NR and
AGC selection are tiny!  
-  A/B VFO Selection:  K3 experts, please correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't
believe it is possible to have VFO A set to transmit and receive on one band,
and VFO B on another band.  This was a "secret weapon" that I used to bypass
the bandswitching on the Omni.  I'd have two bands set up for each radio and
just toggle between A and B VFOs to access them.  Can't do that with the K3 and
the up/down band switch is time consuming and ackward.
-  Another gripe regarding the up/down band buttons--it was almost instinctive
for me to hold them down continuously to change multiple bands (say from 20m to
80M)  If you do that, you'll change either the QSK setting or the VOX setting. 
Changing the VOX setting is fatal if you're trying to call someone, because the
VOX must be on to key the radio.  That happened to me, and it took me a while to
figure it out.

I generally like the radio, I think I still have very much to learn, but I see
a lot of things that I feel could be improved. I'm putting a list together a
list for Elecraft.  The K3 ain't perfect, but it ain't bad!

MTF

Paul, K5AF


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