K2/K3 Operating Tip: Using SCAN to keep an eye on your favorite (too-quiet) band

[wayne burdick]

When I was a teenage novice in the early 1970's, armed only with a  
Heathkit HW-16, 15 meters became my favorite band. It was a reliable  
source of DX contacts even when my entire antenna system was a  
multiband inverted-V a few feet off the roof.

15 m, as well as the other "high" HF bands (12 m, 10 m), can be  
sparsely populated at times, even when they're open. In the old days  
that meant tuning the VFO up and down, searching endlessly. But the K2  
and K3 have a SCAN feature that lets the radio do the work, while you  
answer email, work on homebrew projects, clean up the shack, etc.

I was reminded of this about half an hour ago. A quick check of 15 m  
revealed no signals, so I set up a background (muted) scan from  
21.000-21.060 on the K3. A few minutes later the scan stopped at  
21.026, where PJ2/KE1B was calling CQ. Since he had just started  
calling, there was no pileup, and I made the QSO on one call.

For scanning instructions, see page 40 of the K3 owner's manual or  
page 103 of the K2 manual.

Let me know what pops up.

73,
Wayne
N6KR

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[Jim Sheldon]

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[M0XDF]

That's great and I like the idea, but with a variable S7 to S9 noise floor here, I find the K3 stops all the time - would you expect that or am I doing something wrong?
73 de M0XDF, K3 #174, P3 #108
--
For all our conceits about being the center of the universe, we live in a
routine planet of a humdrum star stuck away in an obscure corner ... on an
unexceptional galaxy which is one of about 100 billion galaxies. ... That
is the fundamental fact of the universe we inhabit, and it is very good for
us to understand that. -Carl Sagan, astronomer and writer (1934-1996)

On 4 May 2011, at 16:00, Wayne Burdick wrote:

> When I was a teenage novice in the early 1970's, armed only with a
> Heathkit HW-16, 15 meters became my favorite band. It was a reliable
> source of DX contacts even when my entire antenna system was a
> multiband inverted-V a few feet off the roof.
>
> 15 m, as well as the other "high" HF bands (12 m, 10 m), can be
> sparsely populated at times, even when they're open. In the old days
> that meant tuning the VFO up and down, searching endlessly. But the K2
> and K3 have a SCAN feature that lets the radio do the work, while you
> answer email, work on homebrew projects, clean up the shack, etc.
>
> I was reminded of this about half an hour ago. A quick check of 15 m
> revealed no signals, so I set up a background (muted) scan from
> 21.000-21.060 on the K3. A few minutes later the scan stopped at
> 21.026, where PJ2/KE1B was calling CQ. Since he had just started
> calling, there was no pileup, and I made the QSO on one call.
>
> For scanning instructions, see page 40 of the K3 owner's manual or
> page 103 of the K2 manual.
>
> Let me know what pops up.
>
> 73,
> Wayne
> N6KR
>
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[wayne burdick]

If there's a high noise floor, try the following, in this order:

- Turn off the preamp, and possibly even turn on the attenuator
   (SCAN is pretty sensitive, so it will stop on real signals above
   the noise floor even with the attenuator on)

- Narrow the filter bandwidth and slow down the scan rate accordingly
   (example: If you set WIDTH to 100 Hz, set RATE to 10 Hz rather than
   50 Hz so you won't miss as many real signals)

- Try backing down RF GAIN a bit

- Use a lower-noise antenna

73,
Wayne
N6KR

On May 4, 2011, at 8:36 AM, David Ferrington, M0XDF wrote:

> That's great and I like the idea, but with a variable S7 to S9 noise  
> floor here, I find the K3 stops all the time - would you expect that  
> or am I doing something wrong?
> 73 de M0XDF, K3 #174, P3 #108



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[M0XDF]

Move to the countryside with no urban noise - go live in the middle of texas :-)

Thanks Wayne, very good things to try there.
73 de M0XDF, K3 #174, P3 #108
--
Two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity.
But I'm not so sure about the universe. -- Albert Einstein.



On 4 May 2011, at 16:42, Wayne Burdick wrote:

> If there's a high noise floor, try the following, in this order:
>
> - Turn off the preamp, and possibly even turn on the attenuator
>  (SCAN is pretty sensitive, so it will stop on real signals above
>  the noise floor even with the attenuator on)
>
> - Narrow the filter bandwidth and slow down the scan rate accordingly
>  (example: If you set WIDTH to 100 Hz, set RATE to 10 Hz rather than
>  50 Hz so you won't miss as many real signals)
>
> - Try backing down RF GAIN a bit
>
> - Use a lower-noise antenna
>
> 73,
> Wayne
> N6KR
>
> On May 4, 2011, at 8:36 AM, David Ferrington, M0XDF wrote:
>
>> That's great and I like the idea, but with a variable S7 to S9 noise floor here, I find the K3 stops all the time - would you expect that or am I doing something wrong?
>> 73 de M0XDF, K3 #174, P3 #108
>
>
>

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[Matt Zilmer]

You could use the SQL control to set the threshold up to the noise
floor.  I use scan all the time with an S4 noise level, and the SQL
helps a lot.

matt W6NIA


On Wed, 04 May 2011 16:36:02 +0100, you wrote:

>That's great and I like the idea, but with a variable S7 to S9 noise floor here, I find the K3 stops all the time - would you expect that or am I doing something wrong?
>73 de M0XDF, K3 #174, P3 #108
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[M0XDF]

Had forgotten that K3 had SQL - good point
73 de M0XDF, K3 #174, P3 #108
--
Do not pray for tasks equal to your powers; pray for powers equal to your
tasks. -Phillips Brooks, bishop and orator (1835-1893)

On 4 May 2011, at 17:00, Matt Zilmer wrote:

> You could use the SQL control to set the threshold up to the noise
> floor.  I use scan all the time with an S4 noise level, and the SQL
> helps a lot.
>
> matt W6NIA
>
>
> On Wed, 04 May 2011 16:36:02 +0100, you wrote:
>
>> That's great and I like the idea, but with a variable S7 to S9 noise floor here, I find the K3 stops all the time - would you expect that or am I doing something wrong?
>> 73 de M0XDF, K3 #174, P3 #108

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[Wayne Conrad]

Wayne,

Which signal's level does the K2's controller watch when scanning?

73, Wayne (still studying for the test)

On 05/04/11 08:00, Wayne Burdick wrote:
> ...But the K2
> and K3 have a SCAN feature that lets the radio do the work, while you
> answer email, work on homebrew projects, clean up the shack, etc.
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[wayne burdick]

The V_SMTR line on the control board, which is still "live" even when  
the receiver is muted.

Good luck with the test!

73,
Wayne
N6KR

Wayne Conrad wrote:

> Which signal's level does the K2's controller watch when scanning?
>
> 73, Wayne (still studying for the test)

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[KD8NNU]

Page 40 is the assignment tonight. :-)

I did not know this existed.

Don
KD8NNU


On Wed, May 4, 2011 at 11:00 AM, Wayne Burdick wrote:

> When I was a teenage novice in the early 1970's, armed only with a
> Heathkit HW-16, 15 meters became my favorite band. It was a reliable
> source of DX contacts even when my entire antenna system was a
> multiband inverted-V a few feet off the roof.
>
> 15 m, as well as the other "high" HF bands (12 m, 10 m), can be
> sparsely populated at times, even when they're open. In the old days
> that meant tuning the VFO up and down, searching endlessly. But the K2
> and K3 have a SCAN feature that lets the radio do the work, while you
> answer email, work on homebrew projects, clean up the shack, etc.
>
> I was reminded of this about half an hour ago. A quick check of 15 m
> revealed no signals, so I set up a background (muted) scan from
> 21.000-21.060 on the K3. A few minutes later the scan stopped at
> 21.026, where PJ2/KE1B was calling CQ. Since he had just started
> calling, there was no pileup, and I made the QSO on one call.
>
> For scanning instructions, see page 40 of the K3 owner's manual or
> page 103 of the K2 manual.
>
> Let me know what pops up.
>
> 73,
> Wayne
> N6KR
>
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[Wayne Conrad]

Just to see that I'm reading the schematic correctly: V_SMTR is in the
IF stage, after AGC, so the crystal filters are in effect when scanning,
but the audio filter (KAF2/KDSP2) is not part of the "loud enough to
stop scanning" circuit.  It looks like the audio filter, mute, and audio
amplifier are pretty much the only thing that's "out of the loop" for
scanning.  That means, for example, that twisting the audio gain knob
will not affect scanning.  Have I got it right?

73, Wayne Conrad (studying like mad)

On 05/04/11 09:55, Wayne Burdick wrote:
> The V_SMTR line on the control board, which is still "live" even when
> the receiver is muted.
 >
> Wayne Conrad wrote:
>
>> Which signal's level does the K2's controller watch when scanning?
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[drewko]

Wayne,

I often use the K3 scanner to listen for band activity (I wrote the
SCANNOW key macro that scans immediately the range of freqs
from VFO-A thru VFO-B).

The scanner is great for keeping an eye (ear?) on the band while doing
other things around the shack or, in my case, while busy with
something at the other end of the house and listening via intercom.

One thing that I often thought might be useful for this remote scanner
monitoring would be the ability to set a specific dwell time. For
example: once the scanner pauses on a signal it would automatically
resume scanning after a user-settable amount of time. As it is now,
the scan will sometimes pause too briefly or get hung up for too long
on a particular signal; would be nice if I could set it for, say,
exactly 10 seconds (or whatever amount) per hit.

73,
Drew
AF2Z


On Wed, 04 May 2011 08:00:51 -0700, you wrote:

>When I was a teenage novice in the early 1970's, armed only with a  
>Heathkit HW-16, 15 meters became my favorite band. It was a reliable  
>source of DX contacts even when my entire antenna system was a  
>multiband inverted-V a few feet off the roof.
>
>15 m, as well as the other "high" HF bands (12 m, 10 m), can be  
>sparsely populated at times, even when they're open. In the old days  
>that meant tuning the VFO up and down, searching endlessly. But the K2  
>and K3 have a SCAN feature that lets the radio do the work, while you  
>answer email, work on homebrew projects, clean up the shack, etc.
>
>I was reminded of this about half an hour ago. A quick check of 15 m  
>revealed no signals, so I set up a background (muted) scan from  
>21.000-21.060 on the K3. A few minutes later the scan stopped at  
>21.026, where PJ2/KE1B was calling CQ. Since he had just started  
>calling, there was no pileup, and I made the QSO on one call.
>
>For scanning instructions, see page 40 of the K3 owner's manual or  
>page 103 of the K2 manual.
>
>Let me know what pops up.
>
>73,
>Wayne
>N6KR
>

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[wayne burdick]

Yes.

73,
Wayne
N6KR

On May 4, 2011, at 10:36 AM, Wayne Conrad wrote:

> Just to see that I'm reading the schematic correctly: V_SMTR is in  
> the IF stage, after AGC, so the crystal filters are in effect when  
> scanning, but the audio filter (KAF2/KDSP2) is not part of the "loud  
> enough to stop scanning" circuit.  It looks like the audio filter,  
> mute, and audio amplifier are pretty much the only thing that's "out  
> of the loop" for scanning.  That means, for example, that twisting  
> the audio gain knob will not affect scanning.  Have I got it right?
>
> 73, Wayne Conrad (studying like mad)
>
> On 05/04/11 09:55, Wayne Burdick wrote:
>> The V_SMTR line on the control board, which is still "live" even when
>> the receiver is muted.
> >
>> Wayne Conrad wrote:
>>
>>> Which signal's level does the K2's controller watch when scanning?

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[w7aqk]

I tried it, and thought I had flunked "scanning 101".  You have to push the
"M - V" button twice before pushing the scan button.  Maybe it says that
somewhere, but I didn't see it.  I was only pushing it once.  Anyway, now it
"plays"!  Watching my P3, however, it does skip over some signals.  Some
seemed sufficiently strong to have stopped the scan, but I suppose it is a
matter of whether or not a character is being sent at precisely the moment
the scan feature rolls across that freq.

Dave W7AQK


-----------------------

Page 40 is the assignment tonight. :-)

I did not know this existed.

Don
KD8NNU

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