ELECRAFT K3, Owner'S Manual

Page: 28 / 78

28
Voice Modes (SSB, AM, FM)
Mode Selection
T ap either end of
MO D E
to select LS B / US B ,
AM
, or
FM
mode. Holding the left end of this
control,
AL T
, selects an alternate mode. LS B and
US B are alternates of each other. The alternate for
AM
is
AM -S
(synchronous AM, pg. 29). In
FM
mode,
AL T
enables a repeater offset (pg. 29).
Microphone Selection
The K3 provides both front- and rear-panel mic
jacks. Some operators prefer to use the rear-panel
jack to minimize cable clutter around the front
panel. Use
MAIN:MIC SEL
to select the front panel
(
FP
) or rear-panel (
RP
) jack. This menu entry can
also be used select a mic gain range, as well to
apply a bias voltage for electret microphones.
The front-panel mic jack is compatible with the
Elecraft MH2, MD2, Proset-K2, and some other 8-
pin mics (see pg. 13 for pinout and bias settings).
The rear-panel mic jack accommodates a 3.5-mm
(1/8") phone plug, and can be used in conjunction
with the rear-panel PTT IN jack.
Voice Monitoring
The K3’ s voi ce moni t or al l ows you t o he ar t he way
your voice will sound at your selected mic gain,
compression, and T X EQ settings (
TX E Q , pg. 35).
To set up voice monitoring:

Hold
TE S T
to put the K3 in T X TEST mode,
s o you won’ t be t r a ns mi t t i ng ( pg.
13).

Set
MI C
to 15-
30 t o e ns ur e t ha t you’ l l hear
your voice. You can fine-tune this level later.

Pr es s your mi c’ s PTT s wi t ch or t a p
X MI T
.

While speaking into the mic, adjust
MO N
for
a comfortable listening level.

Exit transmit (release PTT, or tap
X MI T
again).

You can either leave the K3 in T X TEST mode
or go back to normaltransmit (hold
TE S T
) as
you follow the instructions in the next section.
Mic Gain and Compression Settings
To set up MIC gain and compression level:

Set the monitor level as described earlier.

Optionally select TX TEST mode (pg. 13) or
set power to zero. This will not affect your
CM P / ALC bar graph readings.

Set
C MP
to 0 .

Hold
ME TE R
to select
CMP
/
ALC
metering.

While speaking into the microphone in a
normal voice, adjust
MI C
for a peak ALC
meter indication of about 5-7 bars (see below).

Adjust
C MP
for the desired speech
compression level while speaking. T he
CMP
scale shows approximate compression level.

Hold
ME TE R
to select
S WR
/
P WR
metering.

If you were in TX T EST mode, return to
normal operation by holding
TE S T
.

If you had
P W R
set to 0, set it for the
desired level in watts. Key the rig again and
verify that you have about the right power
output level.
Once you’ ve
set up the MIC and CMP levels as
described, you should only need to adjust them if
you switch mics or if band conditions change.
Power Level for Voice Modes
Voice-mode power output may be slightly lower
than the CW power output you see in when you use
TU N E
. Adjusting mic gain higher cannot correct for
this. Instead, use the CONFIG:TXG VCE menu
entry (voice transmit gain balance). Typically a
value of 0.0 to 1.5 dB will equalize voice modes
with
TU N E
.
I f you’ r e us i ng
an external peak-reading
wattmete r, adjust powe r such that spee ch peaks
remain at or below your de sire d powe r le vel.
T he
K3’ s RF bar gr aph may not capt ur e al l s peec h
peaks, but your actual output will be close to that
set with
P W R
.