All,
I've been operating a little in the ARRL VHF contest this weekend, on 6m, and I'm having an interesting, and not good, experience. Everyone I try to work is reporting that I'm off frequency by about 500 Hz. I don't have RIT/XIT enabled. My K3, s/n 281, went to Elecraft earlier this year for some upgrades and a tune-up, and came back with a clean bill of health and meets/exceeds specs. I admit, I am new to 6m operation, but this constant report of being off-frequency concerns me. Is there some calibration step, specific to 6m, that I missed? I don't get this report on any other band, and have never gotten it in over 6 years of operating this rig. My assumption is that if it came back from the Mother Ship clean, and I've never used 6m before, that it should be properly calibrated. Any guidance/advice is greatly appreciated. Thanks and 73, --Ian Ian Kahn, KM4IK Roswell, GA EM74ua [hidden email] 10-10 #74624 North Georgia Chapter #2038 PODXS 070 #1962 K3 #281, P3 #688 KAT500 #860, KPA500 #1468 ______________________________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:[hidden email] This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html Message delivered to [hidden email] |
Have you experienced this on other bands, during casual operating since
the rig was returned to you? I find that when I am on SSB, I tune until my ear may likes what I am hearing , and as such, I may not be exactly on their frequency. (that is one reason for RIT!) Also, I have found that some ops feel that they have to be tuned to an even frequency on their digital display. For them, if you are on 14.219.8 and not on 14.220.0 then you are off frequency. Ron WA2EIO On 6/11/2017 11:45 AM, Ian Kahn wrote: > All, > > I've been operating a little in the ARRL VHF contest this weekend, on 6m, > and I'm having an interesting, and not good, experience. Everyone I try to > work is reporting that I'm off frequency by about 500 Hz. I don't have > RIT/XIT enabled. My K3, s/n 281, went to Elecraft earlier this year for > some upgrades and a tune-up, and came back with a clean bill of health and > meets/exceeds specs. > > I admit, I am new to 6m operation, but this constant report of being > off-frequency concerns me. Is there some calibration step, specific to 6m, > that I missed? I don't get this report on any other band, and have never > gotten it in over 6 years of operating this rig. My assumption is that if > it came back from the Mother Ship clean, and I've never used 6m before, > that it should be properly calibrated. > > Any guidance/advice is greatly appreciated. > > Thanks and 73, > > --Ian > Ian Kahn, KM4IK > Roswell, GA EM74ua > [hidden email] > 10-10 #74624 North Georgia Chapter #2038 > PODXS 070 #1962 > K3 #281, P3 #688 KAT500 #860, KPA500 #1468 > ______________________________________________________________ > Elecraft mailing list > Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft > Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm > Post: mailto:[hidden email] > > This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net > Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html > Message delivered to [hidden email] > ______________________________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:[hidden email] This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html Message delivered to [hidden email] |
Ron/All,
As I state in my original email, I don't have this issue on any other band. The first couple of times other ops reported me off frequency a bit, I thought the issue to be as you suggest - differences in how different ops hear the signal, a 1-2 Hz difference, etc. However, EVERY operator I tried to contact reported the same thing - that I am off frequency by about 500 Hz, that I need to adjust my RIT (which is not enabled), etc. That's why I'm concerned about a possible issue. I was also using my P3 to tune to signals, so I feel fairly certain that I was, in fact, on frequency as my receiver saw it. Thanks and 73 Ian Kahn, KM4IK Roswell, GA EM74ua [hidden email] 10-10 #74624 North Georgia Chapter #2038 PODXS 070 #1962 K3 #281, P3 #688 KAT500 #860, KPA500 #1468 -----Original Message----- From: Ron Manfredi [mailto:[hidden email]] Sent: Sunday, June 11, 2017 11:55 AM To: Ian Kahn <[hidden email]>; [hidden email] Subject: Re: [Elecraft] 6m off-frequency Have you experienced this on other bands, during casual operating since the rig was returned to you? I find that when I am on SSB, I tune until my ear may likes what I am hearing , and as such, I may not be exactly on their frequency. (that is one reason for RIT!) Also, I have found that some ops feel that they have to be tuned to an even frequency on their digital display. For them, if you are on 14.219.8 and not on 14.220.0 then you are off frequency. Ron WA2EIO On 6/11/2017 11:45 AM, Ian Kahn wrote: > All, > > I've been operating a little in the ARRL VHF contest this weekend, on 6m, > and I'm having an interesting, and not good, experience. Everyone I try to > work is reporting that I'm off frequency by about 500 Hz. I don't have > RIT/XIT enabled. My K3, s/n 281, went to Elecraft earlier this year for > some upgrades and a tune-up, and came back with a clean bill of health and > meets/exceeds specs. > > I admit, I am new to 6m operation, but this constant report of being > off-frequency concerns me. Is there some calibration step, specific to 6m, > that I missed? I don't get this report on any other band, and have never > gotten it in over 6 years of operating this rig. My assumption is that if > it came back from the Mother Ship clean, and I've never used 6m before, > that it should be properly calibrated. > > Any guidance/advice is greatly appreciated. > > Thanks and 73, > > --Ian > Ian Kahn, KM4IK > Roswell, GA EM74ua > [hidden email] > 10-10 #74624 North Georgia Chapter #2038 > PODXS 070 #1962 > K3 #281, P3 #688 KAT500 #860, KPA500 #1468 > ______________________________________________________________ > Elecraft mailing list > Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft > Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm > Post: mailto:[hidden email] > > This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net > Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html > Message delivered to [hidden email] > ______________________________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:[hidden email] This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html Message delivered to [hidden email] |
Ian,
Can you receive any station at a known frequency. Here in the US it is easy to use WWV, but other standard frequency stations exist around the world. Tune to the standard frequency station and do the Reference Oscillator Calibration. K3 manual page 50. Use Method 2. I cannot guarantee it will fix the problem, but it is the first thing to try. 73, Don W3FPR On 6/11/2017 12:16 PM, Ian Kahn, KM4IK wrote: > Ron/All, > > As I state in my original email, I don't have this issue on any other band. > The first couple of times other ops reported me off frequency a bit, I > thought the issue to be as you suggest - differences in how different ops > hear the signal, a 1-2 Hz difference, etc. However, EVERY operator I tried > to contact reported the same thing - that I am off frequency by about 500 > Hz, that I need to adjust my RIT (which is not enabled), etc. That's why I'm > concerned about a possible issue. I was also using my P3 to tune to signals, > so I feel fairly certain that I was, in fact, on frequency as my receiver > saw it. > Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:[hidden email] This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html Message delivered to [hidden email] |
Thanks, Don. I'll give that a try and post results here later.
73 de, --Ian Ian Kahn, KM4IK Roswell, GA EM74ua [hidden email] 10-10 #74624 North Georgia Chapter #2038 PODXS 070 #1962 K3 #281, P3 #688 KAT500 #860, KPA500 #1468 -----Original Message----- From: Don Wilhelm [mailto:[hidden email]] Sent: Sunday, June 11, 2017 12:55 PM To: Ian Kahn, KM4IK <[hidden email]>; 'Ron Manfredi' <[hidden email]>; [hidden email] Subject: Re: [Elecraft] 6m off-frequency Ian, Can you receive any station at a known frequency. Here in the US it is easy to use WWV, but other standard frequency stations exist around the world. Tune to the standard frequency station and do the Reference Oscillator Calibration. K3 manual page 50. Use Method 2. I cannot guarantee it will fix the problem, but it is the first thing to try. 73, Don W3FPR On 6/11/2017 12:16 PM, Ian Kahn, KM4IK wrote: > Ron/All, > > As I state in my original email, I don't have this issue on any other band. > The first couple of times other ops reported me off frequency a bit, I > thought the issue to be as you suggest - differences in how different > ops hear the signal, a 1-2 Hz difference, etc. However, EVERY operator > I tried to contact reported the same thing - that I am off frequency > by about 500 Hz, that I need to adjust my RIT (which is not enabled), > etc. That's why I'm concerned about a possible issue. I was also using > my P3 to tune to signals, so I feel fairly certain that I was, in > fact, on frequency as my receiver saw it. > ______________________________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:[hidden email] This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html Message delivered to [hidden email] |
In reply to this post by Ian Kahn, KM4IK
You say RIT is not engaged, but what about XIT? Either of these being
ON can cause an issue in this regard. Additionally, the way one person tunes to a SSB station may cause some frequency disparity between two stations. Excercise: with eyes closed, tune to a station and then look at the display. Also, the advent of digital readouts can cause this type of discussion to arise. Seems that everyone thinks the digital display is absolutely accurate. In most cases it is not a frequency measuring system but rather a frequency display based on certain accepted oscillator frequencies {which may or may not be absolute} and math calculations if the firmware. It seems that we've migrated to setting the radio with the display to be on a specific indicated value. 73 Bob, K4TAX ______________________________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:[hidden email] This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html Message delivered to [hidden email] |
Indeed! The huge gulf between "precision" and "accuracy." A display
with gobs of decimal places can be colossally but precisely wrong. It is also true that frequencies that end in .000 are "better" for many people so I avoid them when looking for a run frequency. [:-) This problem on 6 meters sure sounds like XIT or maybe SPLIT is engaged for that band and has been remembered. Years ago, 30 meters went dead with infinite SWR on my K3 -- all the rest were fine. Wayne finally telephoned me and his first question was, "Which antenna is selected?" Antenna selection is remembered by band. 73, Fred ["Skip"] K6DGW Sparks NV DM09dn Washoe County On 6/11/17 11:28 AM, Bob McGraw K4TAX wrote: > > Also, the advent of digital readouts can cause this type of discussion > to arise. Seems that everyone thinks the digital display is > absolutely accurate. In most cases it is not a frequency measuring > system but rather a frequency display based on certain accepted > oscillator frequencies {which may or may not be absolute} and math > calculations if the firmware. It seems that we've migrated to > setting the radio with the display to be on a specific indicated value. ______________________________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:[hidden email] This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html Message delivered to [hidden email] |
In reply to this post by Ian Kahn, KM4IK
Ian,
I don't have any suggestions for a solution beyond what others have already mentioned, but as a side note I would like to discuss the concept of "off frequency". It seems to me that these days, on the HF bands that I frequent, more and more people tune SSB to where the displayed frequency is on an 500 Hz boundary, and their rigs have sufficient frequency accuracy that excellent copyability results without any further adjustment. This approach is much faster than tuning by listening for most natural voice, which for me takes a few moments. When I look over the shoulder of operators at Field Day, a surprising percentage of people take a long time trying to tune for natural voice, and still don't end up even close to correct tuning, so they should be helped even more by just "going for the zeroes". While I haven't used 6m recently, I would guess that the "zeroes" approach has become common there, although the average rig may not be as frequency-accurate there as it would be on the lower bands. Further to how to tune in other stations quickly, I just found another way to minimize SSB tuning time when scanning the bands. I configured the K3 to use the RIT knob to act as a coarse tuning knob (CONFIG: VFO OFS), with 500 Hz steps (CONFIG: VFO CRS). I also set the main tuning knob to a 500 Hz boundary. After setting things up this way, I use the P3 with a span of +- 25 kHz to identify the next SSB station up or down the band, then turn the RIT knob to put the passband over it. That puts me close enough that only one more 500 Hz step will tune to perfect voice clarity, and many times I will be tuned perfectly with no adjustment at all. Much, much faster than cranking the VFO knob, first to approximate frequency and then fine adjustment by listening. Occasionally it happens that the station is not on a 500 Hz boundary, and I have to turn on RIT and fine adjust by the RIT knob. Then I will usually soon hear that the station saying that he is using an older rig. That is becoming rather rare, though. After I am finished listening to the "off frequency" station, I just turn off the RIT, and the RIT knob lets me tune in the next station quickly using 500 Hz steps, while leaving the main tuning knob alone. Now tuning SSB stations is a bit like tuning FM "channels". I am not advocating "channelizing" the HF bands, as we should have the freedom to select our frequenciy according to the situation, but a lot of times, using a frequency ending in zeroes saves time and effort. 73, Erik K7TV -----Original Message----- From: [hidden email] [mailto:[hidden email]] On Behalf Of Ian Kahn Sent: Sunday, June 11, 2017 8:46 AM To: [hidden email] Subject: [Elecraft] 6m off-frequency All, I've been operating a little in the ARRL VHF contest this weekend, on 6m, and I'm having an interesting, and not good, experience. Everyone I try to work is reporting that I'm off frequency by about 500 Hz. I don't have RIT/XIT enabled. My K3, s/n 281, went to Elecraft earlier this year for some upgrades and a tune-up, and came back with a clean bill of health and meets/exceeds specs. I admit, I am new to 6m operation, but this constant report of being off-frequency concerns me. Is there some calibration step, specific to 6m, that I missed? I don't get this report on any other band, and have never gotten it in over 6 years of operating this rig. My assumption is that if it came back from the Mother Ship clean, and I've never used 6m before, that it should be properly calibrated. Any guidance/advice is greatly appreciated. Thanks and 73, --Ian Ian Kahn, KM4IK Roswell, GA EM74ua [hidden email] 10-10 #74624 North Georgia Chapter #2038 PODXS 070 #1962 K3 #281, P3 #688 KAT500 #860, KPA500 #1468 ______________________________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:[hidden email] This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html Message delivered to [hidden email] ______________________________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:[hidden email] This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html Message delivered to [hidden email] |
In reply to this post by Ian Kahn, KM4IK
How recently did you calibrate your P3 frequency reference?
Sent from my iPhone ...nr4c. bill > On Jun 11, 2017, at 12:16 PM, Ian Kahn, KM4IK <[hidden email]> wrote: > > Ron/All, > > As I state in my original email, I don't have this issue on any other band. > The first couple of times other ops reported me off frequency a bit, I > thought the issue to be as you suggest - differences in how different ops > hear the signal, a 1-2 Hz difference, etc. However, EVERY operator I tried > to contact reported the same thing - that I am off frequency by about 500 > Hz, that I need to adjust my RIT (which is not enabled), etc. That's why I'm > concerned about a possible issue. I was also using my P3 to tune to signals, > so I feel fairly certain that I was, in fact, on frequency as my receiver > saw it. > > Thanks and 73 > > Ian Kahn, KM4IK > Roswell, GA EM74ua > [hidden email] > 10-10 #74624 North Georgia Chapter #2038 > PODXS 070 #1962 > K3 #281, P3 #688 KAT500 #860, KPA500 #1468 > > -----Original Message----- > From: Ron Manfredi [mailto:[hidden email]] > Sent: Sunday, June 11, 2017 11:55 AM > To: Ian Kahn <[hidden email]>; [hidden email] > Subject: Re: [Elecraft] 6m off-frequency > > Have you experienced this on other bands, during casual operating since the > rig was returned to you? > > I find that when I am on SSB, I tune until my ear may likes what I am > hearing , and as such, I may not be exactly on their frequency. (that > is one reason for RIT!) Also, I have found that some ops feel that they > have to be tuned to an even frequency on their digital display. For > them, if you are on 14.219.8 and not on 14.220.0 then you are off ______________________________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:[hidden email] This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html Message delivered to [hidden email] |
In reply to this post by K7TV
I think it is not that difficult to be 500 Hz off on 6M. I am frequently
200Hz off with the a K3S with the KTCX03-1 option factory installed. Never paid too much attention until the last few months when I started using MSK144 on 6 Meters. Now I can see that on 6M my frequency is typically off by 50-70Hz from one day to the next and as much as 200 Hz if I let it go for a month or so. I figured that with a 0.5ppm (typical) KTCX03-1, it would only vary 25 Hz from day to day. Yes, I have adjusted REF CAL to beat with WWV. I've also performed the Norm/Rev CW tone adjustment and even the WSJTX frequency cal. ___________ 73, Jim - N4ST -----Original Message----- From: [hidden email] [mailto:[hidden email]] On Behalf Of Erik Basilier Sent: Sunday, June 11, 2017 17:42 To: 'Ian Kahn' <[hidden email]>; [hidden email] Subject: Re: [Elecraft] 6m off-frequency Ian, I don't have any suggestions for a solution beyond what others have already mentioned, but as a side note I would like to discuss the concept of "off frequency". It seems to me that these days, on the HF bands that I frequent, more and more people tune SSB to where the displayed frequency is on an 500 Hz boundary, and their rigs have sufficient frequency accuracy that excellent copyability results without any further adjustment. This approach is much faster than tuning by listening for most natural voice, which for me takes a few moments. When I look over the shoulder of operators at Field Day, a surprising percentage of people take a long time trying to tune for natural voice, and still don't end up even close to correct tuning, so they should be helped even more by just "going for the zeroes". While I haven't used 6m recently, I would guess that the "zeroes" approach has become common there, although the average rig may not be as frequency-accurate there as it would be on the lower bands. Further to how to tune in other stations quickly, I just found another way to minimize SSB tuning time when scanning the bands. I configured the K3 to use the RIT knob to act as a coarse tuning knob (CONFIG: VFO OFS), with 500 Hz steps (CONFIG: VFO CRS). I also set the main tuning knob to a 500 Hz boundary. After setting things up this way, I use the P3 with a span of +- 25 kHz to identify the next SSB station up or down the band, then turn the RIT knob to put the passband over it. That puts me close enough that only one more 500 Hz step will tune to perfect voice clarity, and many times I will be tuned perfectly with no adjustment at all. Much, much faster than cranking the VFO knob, first to approximate frequency and then fine adjustment by listening. Occasionally it happens that the station is not on a 500 Hz boundary, and I have to turn on RIT and fine adjust by the RIT knob. Then I will usually soon hear that the station saying that he is using an older rig. That is becoming rather rare, though. After I am finished listening to the "off frequency" station, I just turn off the RIT, and the RIT knob lets me tune in the next station quickly using 500 Hz steps, while leaving the main tuning knob alone. Now tuning SSB stations is a bit like tuning FM "channels". I am not advocating "channelizing" the HF bands, as we should have the freedom to select our frequenciy according to the situation, but a lot of times, using a frequency ending in zeroes saves time and effort. 73, Erik K7TV -----Original Message----- From: [hidden email] [mailto:[hidden email]] On Behalf Of Ian Kahn Sent: Sunday, June 11, 2017 8:46 AM To: [hidden email] Subject: [Elecraft] 6m off-frequency All, I've been operating a little in the ARRL VHF contest this weekend, on 6m, and I'm having an interesting, and not good, experience. Everyone I try to work is reporting that I'm off frequency by about 500 Hz. I don't have RIT/XIT enabled. My K3, s/n 281, went to Elecraft earlier this year for some upgrades and a tune-up, and came back with a clean bill of health and meets/exceeds specs. I admit, I am new to 6m operation, but this constant report of being off-frequency concerns me. Is there some calibration step, specific to 6m, that I missed? I don't get this report on any other band, and have never gotten it in over 6 years of operating this rig. My assumption is that if it came back from the Mother Ship clean, and I've never used 6m before, that it should be properly calibrated. Any guidance/advice is greatly appreciated. Thanks and 73, --Ian Ian Kahn, KM4IK Roswell, GA EM74ua [hidden email] 10-10 #74624 North Georgia Chapter #2038 PODXS 070 #1962 K3 #281, P3 #688 KAT500 #860, KPA500 #1468 ______________________________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:[hidden email] This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html Message delivered to [hidden email] ______________________________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:[hidden email] This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html Message delivered to [hidden email] ______________________________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:[hidden email] This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html Message delivered to [hidden email] |
In reply to this post by K7TV
...would certainly be interesting to set those operators who tune for
the "zeros" down in front of a vintage rig with a tuning dial - although I think Erik alluded to that a bit in his post. Better yet, how about a stint in the crystal controlled Novice band where you tuned from one end of the band to the other in search of an answer to your call. Mike / W8DN Yes, a crusty OT On 6/11/2017 5:41 PM, Erik Basilier wrote: > Ian, > > I don't have any suggestions for a solution beyond what others have already > mentioned, but as a side note I would like to discuss the concept of "off > frequency". > > It seems to me that these days, on the HF bands that I frequent, more and > more people tune SSB to where the displayed frequency is on an 500 Hz > boundary, and their rigs have sufficient frequency accuracy that excellent > copyability results without any further adjustment. This approach is much > faster than tuning by listening for most natural voice, which for me takes a > few moments. When I look over the shoulder of operators at Field Day, a > surprising percentage of people take a long time trying to tune for natural > voice, and still don't end up even close to correct tuning, so they should > be helped even more by just "going for the zeroes". While I haven't used 6m > recently, I would guess that the "zeroes" approach has become common there, > although the average rig may not be as frequency-accurate there as it would > be on the lower bands. Further to how to tune in other stations quickly, I > just found another way to minimize SSB tuning time when scanning the bands. > I configured the K3 to use the RIT knob to act as a coarse tuning knob > (CONFIG: VFO OFS), with 500 Hz steps (CONFIG: VFO CRS). I also set the main > tuning knob to a 500 Hz boundary. After setting things up this way, I use > the P3 with a span of +- 25 kHz to identify the next SSB station up or down > the band, then turn the RIT knob to put the passband over it. That puts me > close enough that only one more 500 Hz step will tune to perfect voice > clarity, and many times I will be tuned perfectly with no adjustment at all. > Much, much faster than cranking the VFO knob, first to approximate frequency > and then fine adjustment by listening. Occasionally it happens that the > station is not on a 500 Hz boundary, and I have to turn on RIT and fine > adjust by the RIT knob. Then I will usually soon hear that the station > saying that he is using an older rig. That is becoming rather rare, though. > After I am finished listening to the "off frequency" station, I just turn > off the RIT, and the RIT knob lets me tune in the next station quickly using > 500 Hz steps, while leaving the main tuning knob alone. Now tuning SSB > stations is a bit like tuning FM "channels". I am not advocating > "channelizing" the HF bands, as we should have the freedom to select our > frequenciy according to the situation, but a lot of times, using a frequency > ending in zeroes saves time and effort. > > 73, > Erik K7TV > > -----Original Message----- > From: [hidden email] > [mailto:[hidden email]] On Behalf Of Ian Kahn > Sent: Sunday, June 11, 2017 8:46 AM > To: [hidden email] > Subject: [Elecraft] 6m off-frequency > > All, > > I've been operating a little in the ARRL VHF contest this weekend, on 6m, > and I'm having an interesting, and not good, experience. Everyone I try to > work is reporting that I'm off frequency by about 500 Hz. I don't have > RIT/XIT enabled. My K3, s/n 281, went to Elecraft earlier this year for some > upgrades and a tune-up, and came back with a clean bill of health and > meets/exceeds specs. > > I admit, I am new to 6m operation, but this constant report of being > off-frequency concerns me. Is there some calibration step, specific to 6m, > that I missed? I don't get this report on any other band, and have never > gotten it in over 6 years of operating this rig. My assumption is that if it > came back from the Mother Ship clean, and I've never used 6m before, that it > should be properly calibrated. > > Any guidance/advice is greatly appreciated. > > Thanks and 73, > > --Ian > Ian Kahn, KM4IK > Roswell, GA EM74ua > [hidden email] > 10-10 #74624 North Georgia Chapter #2038 PODXS 070 #1962 > K3 #281, P3 #688 KAT500 #860, KPA500 #1468 > ______________________________________________________________ > Elecraft mailing list > Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft > Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm > Post: mailto:[hidden email] > > This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net > Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html Message > delivered to [hidden email] > > ______________________________________________________________ > Elecraft mailing list > Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft > Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm > Post: mailto:[hidden email] > > This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net > Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html > Message delivered to [hidden email] > ______________________________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:[hidden email] This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html Message delivered to [hidden email] |
In reply to this post by K7TV
On 11/06/17 22:41, Erik Basilier wrote:
> I don't have any suggestions for a solution beyond what others have already > mentioned, but as a side note I would like to discuss the concept of "off > frequency". > > It seems to me that these days, on the HF bands that I frequent, more and > more people tune SSB to where the displayed frequency is on an 500 Hz > boundary, and their rigs have sufficient frequency accuracy that excellent > copyability results without any further adjustment. This approach is much > faster than tuning by listening for most natural voice, which for me takes a > few moments. > Now tuning SSB stations is a bit like tuning FM "channels". I am not advocating > "channelizing" the HF bands, as we should have the freedom to select our > frequenciy according to the situation, but a lot of times, using a frequency > ending in zeroes saves time and effort. I agree with all of your post, including the bits I've snipped. These days the majority of SSB signals are not just on exact multiples of 500 Hz, but on multiples of 1 kHz too. I see this evolutionary development as a big improvement over the old analogue free-running LC VFO days, before digital readouts, when we could neither measure nor control our frequencies to better than about 500 Hz. We needed the RIT just to cope with drift! I am not advocating channelizing the HF bands either, as this would curtail our freedom to an extent that is difficult to justify. However, assuming a "channel" is 3 kHz wide, if we're working to multiples of 1 kHz, then we've already moved one third of the way to de-facto channelization without even realising it! Nowadays one the main sources of QRM is other stations exactly one or two kHz away from us. If as individuals we voluntarily choose frequencies that are exact multiples of 3 kHz, then we can help to reduce this problem. It both reduces QRM and makes for more efficient use of the spectrum. The only Elecraft-specific aspect of this relates to CONFIG:VFO CRS, where the available step sizes (for SSB) are 0.1, 0.5, 1.0 and 2.5 kHz. It would be nice if 3.0 kHz could be added to this list in a future firmware upgrade, and the selection made per-band as well as per-mode. 73, Richard G4DYA ______________________________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:[hidden email] This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html Message delivered to [hidden email] |
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