Yep, as Fred pointed out, putting the phones ahead of the ears introduced a sort of acoustic "hard limiter", especially if one wasn't digging for really weak signals. In the radio room it also allowed the operator to hear what was going on around him. Here's a picture of just such a radio operator at his job at KPH in the California Coast in the 1970's (http://www.radiomarine.org/historic-5.html). That's Les, K6ETY, a grand old friend and mentor of mine, now an SK. But that wasn't always practical when digging for a weak signal as shown by the operator in the foreground here (http://www.radiomarine.org/historic-2.html).
If you made AGC so aggressive it attacked a signal like a hard limiter, it'd produce the same distortion as the limiter. A limiter is easier to implement <G>. A handy compromise that's already a part of your K2 is to leave AGC on and simply control the volume with the RF gain instead of the AF gain. That way the AGC will "kick in" only if you encounter a really strong signal. Truth to tell, I do that more that I operate with the AGC turned off completely! Ron AC7AC -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Rick Dettinger Sent: Monday, March 12, 2007 10:56 PM To: elecraft@mailman.qth.net Subject: Re: [Elecraft] AGC Independent S-Meter? For CW signals the solution was easy. One added a "hard limiter" to the audio channel. If a really strong signal was encountered without warning, it was clipped of at some preset maximum volume (below the threshold of pain, hopefully). Most operators used the limiter at all times in case a huge signal came on frequency. Ron AC7AC ============================================ I wonder if it is possible to adjust the AGC on the K2 to only work on strong signals, to act as a hearing protection limiter only, with little action on all other signals. I understand this would work for CW only rigs. I like to use my K2 with AGC off, but value whats left of my hearing. Was that why old time commercial operators wore headphones forward of their ears? Be hard to do with modern "cushion" phones. Rick Dettinger K7MW _______________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Post to: Elecraft@mailman.qth.net 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 _______________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Post to: Elecraft@mailman.qth.net 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
