K2 - Adjusting L34 with Spectrogram

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K2 - Adjusting L34 with Spectrogram

JT Croteau
Decided to try pre-aligning L34 using Spectrogram.  However, I've
never played with Spectrogram or anything of the like before.

This screenshot shows the best Signal to Noise ratio I could come up
with.  Does this look about right?

http://tinyurl.com/3bd3m2

Internal signal was found right at 7 MHz and I have FL1 (1.50)
selected per the recommendation of KE0Z.  The -53 dB spike at ~1152 Hz
is oddly interesting to me, is this normal?

Thanks

--
JT Croteau, N1ESE - Manchester, NH
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Re: K2 - Adjusting L34 with Spectrogram

Don Wilhelm-4
JT,

Turn the AF gain (or the soundcard line-in setting) up a bit until the
noise in the passband becomes a bit greater.  After that, adjust L34 for
the greatest difference between the signal and the noise floor.
Expect some difficulty in determining the proper point - the peak S/N
ratio is still quite broad.  If you do not discern any improvement, just
set the slug for the greatest amplitude on the Spectrogram display and
be done with it.

If you cannot discern the difference in S/N ratio with either your ears
or with the Spectrogram display, then the setting that gives the
greatest amplitude is the correct one (and it is a broad setting).  If
your 'best' setting is very far from 1 to 2 turns from the top of the
coil, then check things again because something is wrong (most likely a
soldering problem).

The spike is likely a result of pickup from some local source - check
the things in your house as a first course of action.

73,
Don W3FPR

JT Croteau wrote:

> Decided to try pre-aligning L34 using Spectrogram.  However, I've
> never played with Spectrogram or anything of the like before.
>
> This screenshot shows the best Signal to Noise ratio I could come up
> with.  Does this look about right?
>
> http://tinyurl.com/3bd3m2
>
> Internal signal was found right at 7 MHz and I have FL1 (1.50)
> selected per the recommendation of KE0Z.  The -53 dB spike at ~1152 Hz
> is oddly interesting to me, is this normal?
>
>  
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Re: K2 - Adjusting L34 with Spectrogram

Mike K8CN
JT and Don,

Could the weak(-53 dB) spike just be 2nd harmonic of the audio  
fundamental spike?  The main spike looks a bit lower than 600 Hz?  
Just a thought to save looking for another source of the spurious  
signal.....

73,

Mike, K8CN
K2 #5569

  Quoting Don Wilhelm <[hidden email]>:

> JT,
>
> Turn the AF gain (or the soundcard line-in setting) up a bit until the
> noise in the passband becomes a bit greater.  After that, adjust L34
> for the greatest difference between the signal and the noise floor.
> Expect some difficulty in determining the proper point - the peak S/N
> ratio is still quite broad.  If you do not discern any improvement,
> just set the slug for the greatest amplitude on the Spectrogram display
> and be done with it. If you cannot discern the difference in S/N ratio
> with either your ears or with the Spectrogram display, then the setting
> that gives the greatest amplitude is the correct one (and it is a broad
> setting).  If your 'best' setting is very far from 1 to 2 turns from
> the top of the coil, then check things again because something is wrong
> (most likely a soldering problem).
>
> The spike is likely a result of pickup from some local source - check
> the things in your house as a first course of action.
>
> 73,
> Don W3FPR
>
> JT Croteau wrote:
>> Decided to try pre-aligning L34 using Spectrogram.  However, I've
>> never played with Spectrogram or anything of the like before.
>>
>> This screenshot shows the best Signal to Noise ratio I could come up
>> with.  Does this look about right?
>>
>> http://tinyurl.com/3bd3m2
>>
>> Internal signal was found right at 7 MHz and I have FL1 (1.50)
>> selected per the recommendation of KE0Z.  The -53 dB spike at ~1152 Hz
>> is oddly interesting to me, is this normal?
>>
>>
> _______________________________________________
> Elecraft mailing list
> Post to: [hidden email]
> You must be a subscriber to post to the list.
> Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.):
> http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft    Help:
> http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm
> Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com


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Re: K2 - Adjusting L34 with Spectrogram

JT Croteau
On 8/28/07, Michael J Carter <[hidden email]> wrote:
> Could the weak(-53 dB) spike just be 2nd harmonic of the audio
> fundamental spike?

No, it was a spurious emission from something but I'm not sure what.
My latest experiment of playing with L34 and SG is much cleaner:

http://tinyurl.com/26hfrb

AF Gain was set around 2-o'clock with very little gain on the line
input level of the sound card as shown here:

http://tinyurl.com/2dzho4

I can get rid of the noise completely as spectrogram sees it but the
signal drops about -25 dB.  I hear white noise along with the signal
when spectrogram sees nothing.

--
JT Croteau, N1ESE - Manchester, NH
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Re: K2 - Adjusting L34 with Spectrogram

JT Croteau
It looks like I goofed in my last screen captures.  Here are some new
shots, one for each filter setting, of my tweaking L34 with
Spectrogram.

1.5 kHz Filter:
http://tinyurl.com/2rla5d

700 Hz
http://tinyurl.com/2k9p7f

400 Hz
http://tinyurl.com/2lrr8p

200 Hz
http://tinyurl.com/3dyj37

I haven't attempted to tune the filters yet as I am not yet finished
construction.  This is just initial adjustment of L34.

--
JT Croteau, N1ESE - Manchester, NH
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Re: K2 - Adjusting L34 with Spectrogram

Don Wilhelm-4
JT,

Those all look good, but really do not tell us much - you have to be the
judge of when the peak of the signal has the greatest difference to the
noise floor.

You really should crank in a bit more soundcard gain - that will allow
you to see the noise floor across the entire screen rather than just in
the passband.  That is often helpful in making an overall judgment.

73,
Don W3FPR


JT Croteau wrote:

> It looks like I goofed in my last screen captures.  Here are some new
> shots, one for each filter setting, of my tweaking L34 with
> Spectrogram.
>
> 1.5 kHz Filter:
> http://tinyurl.com/2rla5d
>
> 700 Hz
> http://tinyurl.com/2k9p7f
>
>
>  
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Re: K2 - Adjusting L34 with Spectrogram

JT Croteau
On 8/29/07, Don Wilhelm <[hidden email]> wrote:
> You really should crank in a bit more soundcard gain - that will allow
> you to see the noise floor across the entire screen rather than just in
> the passband.  That is often helpful in making an overall judgment.

I'm going to experiment with a different soundcard as well.  I'm
currently using the 24-bit soundcard on my motherboard which is
supposedly pretty good but still onboard sound and tasks the CPU more
than I like.  I have a SoundBlaster sitting here that may be a more
capable candidate for this task.

BTW, for a weak signal, this internally generated signal is very
strong.  I have a real hard time hearing the noise unless I crank the
can down quite a bit.

--
JT Croteau, N1ESE - Manchester, NH
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