60 Meters for dummies - K3 Version

[hf4me]

60 Meters for dummies



Do I understand where the CW transmission actually is (600 Hz above dial
frequency)?  Please explain.



USB - set VFO to the lower edge of the "channel (1500 Hz below center
frequency). Giving audio emissions from 300 to 3000 Hz above that.



K3 and CW - on my waterfall (in HRD) the trace made by my CW transmission is
at the (+)600 marker above the bottom of the waterfall.  This is where I
conclude the transmission actually is, resulting in the 600 Hz tone above
where I am actually tuned.  Now, do they want this actual +600 Hz
transmission in the center of the channel?  Or do they want us to tune to
the center of the band and transmit 600 Hz above that?  If they are tuned to
the lower edge of the band do they want to hear a 2100 Hz tone (with us
tuned to the center frequency) or do they want to hear a 1500 Hz tone (with
us tuned 600 Hz below center frequency)?



On PSK31 - Do they want us to tune to the bottom of the channel and then
transmit only a single signal directly on the 1500 Hz marker?  There would
be room for many others as well without exceeding the bandwidth allocated to
us.



And what is this "data using PACTOR-III technique"?
(http://transition.fcc.gov/Daily_Releases/Daily_Business/2011/db1118/FCC-11-171A1.pdf)



Somebody please straighten me out.



73, de Jim KG0KP


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[John Oppenheimer]

> Do I understand where the CW transmission actually is (600 Hz above dial
> frequency)?  Please explain.

If XIT and SPLIT are off, the K3's CW transmit frequency is the
displayed VFO frequency.

The users desired CW pitch frequency is set with the K3's PITCH setting.
If the received CW pitch frequency matches the PITCH setting, then the
VFO will indicate the other stations transmitted frequency.

NOTE: Switching between the K3's CW and CW-REV (ALT button) will result
with no pitch change if the receiver VFO frequency display is set to the
other station's transmit frequency.

Test: tune to WWV at 10.000.000 MHz, CW mode, 50Hz BW. If the K3 is
aligned, switching between CW and CW-REV will result with no pitch
frequency change. (My K3 requires a setting of 10.000.002 to achieve the
no pitch change condition, indicating that my K3's frequency alignment
is 1Hz off.)

To comply with the 60M FCC statement "For CW emissions (emission
designator 150HA1A), the carrier frequency is set to the center
frequency." with a K3, set SPLIT and XIT off and set the VFO to 5332,
5348, 5358, 5373, or 5405 kHz. Assuming the other station is complying
with the same rule, on the K3 with RIT off, the received pitch frequency
will be the K3's PITCH setting.

The received pitch frequency is fully the operator's discretion by
adjusting the receiver BFO frequency offset setting. For the K3, with
the PITCH setting.

John KN5L
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[Mike Morrow-3]

Jim wrote:

> Do I understand where the CW transmission actually is (600 Hz above dial
> frequency)?  Please explain.

No.  As Don pointed out, most modern transceivers always show transmitter
carrier frequency in the display.  On USB and LSB, that will also be
the receiver carrier frequency.  On CW, however, if the receiver functions
in USB mode the receiver carrier frequency will be shifted BELOW the
transmitter carrier frequency (always shown in the display) by the offset
(pitch) being used.  The receiver carrier frequency is *never* actually
shown in the display while in CW mode.  (I don't know if the K3 allows
the option of using the receiver in LSB mode for CW mode.  If so, then
this whole discussion would need changes to take that into account
if the LSB-CW option is being executed.)

For examples in the discussion below, I'll use the new 60m channel
of 5358.5 kHz (center), or 5357.0 (carrier), as defined in section
97.303(h).

> USB - set VFO to the lower edge of the "channel (1500 Hz below center
> frequency). Giving audio emissions from 300 to 3000 Hz above that.

Correct.  Put 5357.0 in the display.  That's all that's needed in USB mode.

Do the same for Data and RTTY transmissions (including PSK31), using USB mode.

> K3 and CW - on my waterfall (in HRD) the trace made by my CW transmission is
> at the (+)600 marker above the bottom of the waterfall.  This is where I
> conclude the transmission actually is, resulting in the 600 Hz tone above
> where I am actually tuned.

All true.  But on CW, your receiver's carrier frequency is NOT the frequency
shown in the K3 display.  On CW only, the receiver carrier frequency is BELOW
the transmitter carrier (and displayed) frequency by the amount of your pitch
offset...0.6 kHz for you.  If the K3 shows 5358.5 kHz on CW, your receiver
carrier frequency is 5757.9 kHz, USB.

> Now, do they want this actual +600 Hz transmission in the center of the
> channel?

Yes...but leave out that "+600 Hz" part.  More precisely, your transmitted CW
signal **must** always be ON the channel center frequency.  Set the dial for
5358.5 kHz in CW mode.

> Or do they want us to tune to the center of the band and transmit 600 Hz
> above that?

Definitely not!  To do so would place you 0.6 kHz too high (5359.1 kHz) above
the correct frequency (5358.5 kHz).  Plus, since the K3 ALWAYS shows transmit
carrier frequency, you must have the display showing 5359.1 in order to
transmit 600 Hz above the channel center frequency.  In that case, your
receiver's carrier frequency is 5358.5 kHz, but that's not what you want.

(By "band", you mean "channel".)

> If they are tuned to the lower edge of the band...

> ...do they want to hear a 2100 Hz tone (with us tuned to the center frequency)

No.  Dump that whole line.

> ...or do they want to hear a 1500 Hz tone...

If "they" had a receiver in USB mode tuned to the channel's *carrier*
frequency of 5357.0 kHz (defined for phone, data, and RTTY modes), then your
CW signal on the correct frequency of 5358.5 kHz would produce a 1500 Hz
tone in their receiver.

> (with us tuned 600 Hz below center frequency)?

Establishing your CW transmission on the channel center frequency (5358.5 kHz)
means that will be what is shown in the K3 display.  But on CW, the carrier
frequency of your receiver will NOT be what's in the display, but rather
what's in the display minus your CW offset.  So, your receiver's actual USB
carrier frequency will be 5358.5 kHz - 0.6 kHz = 5357.9 kHz, or 0.9 kHz ABOVE
the channel's specified carrier frequency of 5357.0 kHz.  But there's no real
significance to that.  The rules don't care where your receiver carrier
frequency is...only you do, for the desired sidetone pitch.  Someone who
liked an 800 Hz pitch would have his receiver carrier frequency set at
5357.7 kHz.

Just make sure on CW that the channel center frequency is shown in the display.
That always shows transmitter carrier frequency.  Everything else will turn
out all right.

> On PSK31 - Do they want us to tune to the bottom of the channel and then
> transmit only a single signal directly on the 1500 Hz marker?  There would
> be room for many others as well without exceeding the bandwidth allocated to
> us.

No.  The new section 97.303(h) says in part "...control operators of stations
transmitting phone, data, and RTTY emissions (emission designators 2K80J3E,
2K80J2D, and 60H0J2B, respectively) may set the carrier frequency 1.5 kHz
below the center frequency as specified in the table..."

You must use USB to transmit your PSK31 (60H0J2B) signal, and you "may" set
the USB transmitter carrier frequency 1.5 kHz below the channel center
frequency.  The channelized mode of operation means that most hams will use
fixed frequencies stored in memory rather than a VFO, so putting any phone,
RTTY, or data transmission on that suggested carrier frequency would seem
prudent, even if it can be argued that the rule allows the USB carrier
frequency to be below the channel center frequency by less than 1.5 kHz,
as no doubt PSK31 could easily accomodate without exceeding channel
bandwidth limits on the high side of the channel.

> And what is this "data using PACTOR-III technique"?

There are discussions and references to PACTOR-III starting on page 6 of the
document at:
 http://transition.fcc.gov/Daily_Releases/Daily_Business/2011/db1118/FCC-11-171A1.pdf

It's not something most hams are likely to use, but that might be useful in
some emergency traffic situations with non-ham stations.

> Somebody please straighten me out.

That's my best attempt.

73,
Mike / KK5F
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[Richard Ferch]

Mike,

A couple of corrections:

1. In CW, the K3 normally uses LSB. CW-REV is USB. This makes no
difference to the recommendation (in CW or CW-REV, just tune the K3's
dial to the channel center).

2. In RTTY using either FSK D or AFSK A, the K3's dial displays the RTTY
Mark frequency (the higher of the two transmitted frequencies).
Therefore, for an RTTY signal to be exactly centered in the channel, the
K3's dial should be set 85 Hz above the channel center frequency in
these two modes. Just as for CW sidetone, the choice of audio tone pairs
is immaterial in either FSK D or AFSK A, provided the software (or TU)
and the radio are both set to use the same tones.

Using DATA A, on the other hand, the dial displays the suppressed
carrier frequency (DATA A is USB). One way to send AFSK RTTY on the
channel center using DATA A would be to set the K3's dial to the channel
carrier frequency and the audio RTTY tones to 1415/1585 Hz ("Reverse"
for MMTTY users, since MMTTY assumes the radio is in LSB). This is not
one of the standard tone pairs that MMTTY provides, so MMTTY users would
have to enter a "custom" Mark frequency of 1415 Hz.

Alternatively, if they wanted to use a standard audio tone pair, users
would have to work out the correct dial setting for each channel
depending on which tone pair and sideband (DATA A = USB, DATA A-REV =
LSB) they preferred to use.

73,
Rich VE3KI
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