Topband: Rig Question

[Jim Brown]

On 6/19/2014 9:05 AM, W0MU Mike Fatchett wrote:
> Is my P3 Monitor worth it.  Yes. necessary no.  Does it allow me to 
> work DX faster yes.  Pretty handy knowing exactly where the last guy 
> the dx just worked was or the pattern the dx uses or finding holes in 
> the pileups.

Yes, and it's also indispensable on 10M and above.  During contests and 
the summer sporadic-E season, my P3 is on it's widest setting -- 200 kHz 
-- set to display 50,080 kHz to 50,280 kHz. I see CW activity, SSB 
activity, and JT65 activity.

>
> How many rigs have true diversity receive?  One?  Does it help? It 
> sure does.  W6AM was using this long ago on his rombic farm. Does 
> everyone need it?  No.

It's wonderful on topband, and very nice up to 30M.

>
> Phase noise in a MM situation can be awful.  K3's have minimized 
> this.  Many of the big dxpeditions are only taking K3's because of 
> this and the best receiver available.  When you have the world calling 
> you do need the best. 

And please don't forget about TX phase noise, where the K3 is 20 dB 
better than most rigs. Using a K3 makes you a much better neighbor. K6XX 
is 3 miles from me with K3s and legal limit tube amps. We can work 500 
Hz apart on CW and barely know the other is there. KE1B is 8 miles from 
me with a 7600 and legal limit amp. He chews up 10 kHz of at least 
whatever CW band he's on, and nearly twice that on SSB.

73, Jim K9YC