On Tue, 14 Sep 2010 09:07:06 -0700 (PDT), Wes Stewart wrote: >You need an oscilloscope.
Yes. Let me offer an explanation of what I think might be going on with your PEP meter. First, ANY meter circuit, digital or analog, will have some time constant, so there will be SOME averaging. I have a couple of wattmeters that claim to read PEP, but neither of them is ideal at doing so, because they are not fast enough. Second, when you use the TXEQ settings I recommend, you are getting rid of the wasted talk power in the lower octaves, and the CM500 itself produces less wasted talk power in those lower octaves than many other mics. All of your TX power goes into the midrange, which the brain uses for speech intelligibility. The power in those lower octaves, because it is lower frequencies, will make a strong contribution to the averaging that the PEP meter is doing, so when you reduce that low octave power, the meter will read lower. So, like Wes says, you need a scope. Let me repeat my advice on setup. BEFORE setting front panel mic gain, go to TXEQ and turn down the two lowest octaves as far as they go (-16 dB). Leave all the other octave bands set flat (OdB), or set them to 0dB if you have changed them for some other mic. Set the Mic Gain in the menu to Low. NOW, follow the instructions in the K3 manual for setting mic gain (the proper ALC reading when you talk with Compression turned off), then turn up Compression to get the desired amount as indicated on the front panel meter (but don't go more than 10dB of compression on peaks). THEN, get some on the air reports from a "good listener" who has his/her radio set for wide SSB RX bandwidth (a wide IF setting), and tweak the TXEQ settings if needed for YOUR voice. If you have a deep or muddy voice, you might want to roll off a bit of the third lowest octave and/or increase the two highest octaves by a few dB. BTW -- the only difference between setting up this mic and any other mic is the TXEQ settings that correspond to the response of THAT mic and YOUR voice, and the Mic Gain setting for that mic. 73, Jim Brown K9YC ______________________________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
