alternate method for finding zero beat with WWV

[W6ODJ]

Dear group,

Wayne Burdick and others have given us methods for aligning the 4kHz  
reference oscillator of the K2 using zero beat with WWV.  The only  
problem is that it is sometimes hard to recognize zero beat.  
Counting the beats of the S meter works sometimes, but sometimes is  
fairly ambiguous.  Here is a wrinkle on Wayne's method that I haven't  
seen mentioned.

WWV not only emits a standard carrier, but also emits standard audio  
tones.  If you tune your K2 to WWV using, say LSB, you find that the  
received pitch of the tone varies as you approach zero beat.  When  
the K2's BFO is exactly zero beat with the WWV carrier, the received  
tone should be exactly of the correct pitch.  But how to recognize  
that correct pitch?  The answer is that the received audio pitch of  
the WWV modulation is independent of exact tuning WHEN YOU RECEIVE IT  
ON AN AM RECEIVER.  So, take any AM receiver capable of tuning WWV  
and listen to the pitch of the WWV tone on it.  When the pitch from  
the K2 speaker matches the pitch from the AM receiver speaker, you  
have zero beat.  You can even put the two radios close together and  
hear the beats between the two pitches.

73,

Oliver Johns
W6ODJ

 
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[Don Wilhelm-4]

Oliver,

That works great for those folks who have reasonable pitch
discrimination.  My ears cannot discern the beat until the pitches get
close enough to make a slow 'wow-wow' sound, but I do this on a frequent
basis when aligning K2s (or setting the KX1's BFO and DDS parameters).
Sooo, I use Spectrogram as a crutch - just feed the K2's WWV audio into
the compute soundcard (hear WWV on the computer speakers) and start up
Spectrogram.  Knowing that WWV usually transmits tones of 500 and 600 Hz
on alternate minutes, I put markers at 500 and 600 Hz in Spectrogram and
tune first until the voice announcements sound intelligible, then tune
slightly until the transmitted tones line up with the markers.  Use SSB
mode for this, attempting to use CW will create confusion due to the
dial offset equal to the sidetone pitch.

So, now you have 2 alternate methods of precisely tuning WWV.

73,
Don W3FPR

Oliver Johns wrote:

> Dear group,
>
> Wayne Burdick and others have given us methods for aligning the 4kHz
> reference oscillator of the K2 using zero beat with WWV.  The only
> problem is that it is sometimes hard to recognize zero beat.  Counting
> the beats of the S meter works sometimes, but sometimes is fairly
> ambiguous.  Here is a wrinkle on Wayne's method that I haven't seen
> mentioned.
>
> WWV not only emits a standard carrier, but also emits standard audio
> tones.  If you tune your K2 to WWV using, say LSB, you find that the
> received pitch of the tone varies as you approach zero beat.  When the
> K2's BFO is exactly zero beat with the WWV carrier, the received tone
> should be exactly of the correct pitch.  But how to recognize that
> correct pitch?  The answer is that the received audio pitch of the WWV
> modulation is independent of exact tuning WHEN YOU RECEIVE IT ON AN AM
> RECEIVER.  So, take any AM receiver capable of tuning WWV and listen
> to the pitch of the WWV tone on it.  When the pitch from the K2
> speaker matches the pitch from the AM receiver speaker, you have zero
> beat.  You can even put the two radios close together and hear the
> beats between the two pitches.
>
> 73,
>
> Oliver Johns
> W6ODJ
>
>  
> _______________________________________________
> 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 
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> Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com
>
>

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