W2IHY 8 band equalizer and EQ Plus

[Lu Romero - W4LT]

Here Here!  (or Hear Hear):

Jim, are you a disciple of Frank Foti?  :)

I like Julius' gear, and I have worked with the EQPlus
device at the NQ4I Multi Multi station on Rick's Orions.
This box does make those radios sound quite good, especially
with just a hint of "Delay" dialed in.

I do find that the noise gate on the K3 has a "crackling"
sound when muting and unmuting, making somewhat useless to
me (if you pay attention to that nuance... I do.  Otherwise,
it works just fine) Lyle has done a great job with the TX
chain on the K3... I would like to see some handles on
Attack and Release as well as ratio, but then that could be
painful to use if you dont know what youre doing.  RF
Clipper's attack and decay characteristics are rather
generalised.  

The best way to fix audio ambient noise issues is through
your environment's acoustics instead of "fixing it in the
mix" with processing and gating.

Folks shouldnt forget that we are transmitting into a very
noisy medium.  High dynamic range defeats intelligibility.
SENSIBLE "compression" (RF Clipping) settings are your
friends, as you then reduce the dynamic range (the
difference between the loudest and the softest sounds in a
given audio waveform) and have more "modulation density" to
rise above the ambient noise on the band.  

Tailoring your frequency response to concentrate power in a
given voice range will go a long way to making your signal
"pop" out of the noise.  Close talk the mic as much as
possible and reduce the mic gain as Jim describes.

A good example on how all these parameters work together to
make your signal stand out can be gleaned by downloading
VE3NEA's excellent "Voice Shaper" simulator program (its
free).  Use your favorite air mic and play with it for a
while to get an understanding of how gates,
compressor/limiters and EQ affect your signal in QRM and QRN
conditions.

Try to pay attention to the natural acoustics in your
operating position, if you can.  Curtains help, hard walls
hurt.  Carpet helps, Terrazo floors hurt.  Try to set your
operating position and/or microphone somewhat at an angle
between hard reflecting walls to reduce phase cancelling or
adding from the reflecting walls/surfaces.
 
Personally, I am not a believer in ESSB.  But different
strokes for different folks, and I wont criticise folks who
practice this "voodoo" until they become 8kHz wide and QRM
me or I am able to understand them when listening to their
SSB signal in AM mode (all that bass often creates a "pseudo
carrier").

You would be surprised how well you can be heard using the
built in features provided by Elecraft in the K3.  It takes
practice and a commitment to resist the temptation to "turn
it up to eleven".

-lu-W4LT-  


Date: Mon, 26 Apr 2010 10:57:04 -0700
From: "Jim Brown" <[hidden email]>
Subject: Re: [Elecraft] W2IHY 8 band equalizer and EQ Plus
To: "Elecraft List" <[hidden email]>
Message-ID: <[hidden email]>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

On Mon, 26 Apr 2010 16:18:01 +0000, Lance Collister wrote:

> It very effectively cuts out the background blower noise

Some of the major causes of audible background noise are 1)
working too
far from the mic; 2) running the mic gain too high; 3) using
too much
compression/processing; and 4) not rolling off the low
frequencies.

In a noisy environment, it always helps to work close to the
mic. It is
ALWAYS good practice to use the minimum mic gain needed to
get good
modulation, use no more than about 10dB of
compression/processing, and
roll off the low frequency content. It's good engineering
practice for the
highest quality broadcast stations, and it's good practice
for ham radio.

Indeed, the only difference between what's right for
broadcasting and for
ham radio is WHERE to cut the low end and HOW MUCH money to
spend on
compression/processing. Many years ago, I sold processing
systems for
broadcast stations that cost upwards of $10K in today's
dollars, and I
helped the chief engineers of those stations adjust them. I
suspect that
W8JI and K4TAX have similar experience. Before I spent ANY
money on an
outboard box for a ham rig, I would first follow all of
those elements of
good engineering practice.  

73,

Jim Brown K9YC



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[Jim Brown-10]

On Tue, 27 Apr 2010 10:56:31 -0400, Lu Romero wrote:

>Here Here!  (or Hear Hear):

>Jim, are you a disciple of Frank Foti?  :)

Never heard of him.

>The best way to fix audio ambient noise issues is through
>your environment's acoustics instead of "fixing it in the
>mix" with processing and gating.

Yes. The noise sources in my shack are the fans in my Ten Tec Titan
power amps, and a few outboard fans I've added to cool their power
supplies for high duty-cycle contesting. The Titan fans can get
pretty noisy, and their case/chassis can amplify their vibrations,
making them louder. I keep the screws tightened so the lids don't
vibrate, and I've got both amps (I do SO2R) sitting on soft acoustic
foam to decouple them from the desktop that they're sitting on. I've
also placed some absorption on the walls behind the amps. Although I
haven't measured it, I'd estimate that I've attenuated it by 6dB or
so.

>Folks shouldnt forget that we are transmitting into a very
>noisy medium.  High dynamic range defeats intelligibility.
>SENSIBLE "compression" (RF Clipping) settings are your
>friends, as you then reduce the dynamic range (the
>difference between the loudest and the softest sounds in a
>given audio waveform) and have more "modulation density" to
>rise above the ambient noise on the band.  

EXACTLY!

>Try to pay attention to the natural acoustics in your
>operating position, if you can.  Curtains help, hard walls
>hurt.  Carpet helps, Terrazo floors hurt.  

More very good advice. The key benefit of this is to reduce the wild
sound (both noise and wall reflections) that the mic hears. In
addition to funky carpet on the floor, more absorption is provided
by walls holding books on shelves.

73,

Jim K9YC





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