Re: Topband: Zero Beat

[James Rodenkirch]

Jim and Rick - SPOT ON with being off just slightlythat can make the 
difference (well, in these contests that doesn't help, necessarily, for my QRP 
peanut whistle)!

I think this whole zero beat discussion is interesting ('specially for those 
who have to crank the receiver bandwidth down 'cuz of the QRM - I WISH I had 
that problem out here in s/w Utah, the 160 meter black hole of the U.S.!) but 
--- I find myself, if not heard after a couple of calls, varying my send 
frequency up and down at least 100 hz if not more and, not just once in a 
while, that makes the difference!

Rick: I see I have you in the log for the ARRL event...thanks for pulling my 
peanut sized signal out of the mud and QRM

72, see y'all in the Stew with my QRP signal..if you can barely hear the 
calling station it might be me!  Jim Rodenkirch, K9JWV QRP ARCI Contest Manager

 


 Date: Sun, 4 Dec 2011 15:44:46 -0800
 From: rich...@karlquist.com
 To: w6...@mac.com
 CC: topband@contesting.com
 Subject: Re: Topband: Zero Beat
 
 Jim Bennett wrote:
  Just my two cents worth on the zero beat issue. My station is one of the
  little guns / squirt guns. I operated in the weekend's contest with a
 
 I'm not a little gun, but you are absolutely correct.  The thing to
 do is answer about 50 Hz above or below zero beat.  I have been
 doing this for years.  Just enough to allow the running station to
 distinguish the callers, but within a 200 Hz filter bandwidth (remember
 that means +/- 100 Hz.  Just off zero beat.
 
 It isn't easy to get this right.  You have to accurately zero beat
 your receiver, but select XIT = +/- 50.  My FT1000 have a CW tune
 light for zero beating.  I don't know what people with other rigs
 do.
 
 The worst case is where you have a guy sending at 10 WPM with a
 straight key who is way off frequency.  Obviously, not an experienced
 contest operator, he is quite capable of being way off frequency.
 Or maybe he's not off frequency, just isn't good at CW.
 
 Rick N6RK
 
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 UR RST IS ... ... ..9 QSB QSB - hw? BK
  
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UR RST IS ... ... ..9 QSB QSB - hw? BK

Topband: Zero Beat

[Eddy Swynar]

Hi All,

Well, for the life of me, I don't understand why anyone would get their shorts 
in a such knots over the issue of zero beating...

The big advantage of CW over other modes that's been touted for years  years 
is its reduced bandwidth: if both stations are exactly on the same frequency, 
the integrity of this narrow bandwidth is intact---if the two stations diverge 
in frequency, final overall bandwidth is increased by that amount. More 
bandwidth = less spectrum space = more crowding. Period.

I ran strings of QSOs on one frequency during the garnering of my 460 contacts 
over the weekend, and yes, I agree, some stations were all over the place 
within---and outside of---my 250-Hz passband. But so what of it? That's why we 
have R.I.T.,  and why it's important to take an extra second, or two, to 
listen---and to tune around---between CQ TEST calls.

Just my $0.02 worth...and I suspect that, despite all of the nay-saying, 
everyone must have derived some modicum of enjoyment out of the event, 
otherwise a few of us would be complaining about the poor adhesive quality of 
the hinges we recently acquired to mount our stamps into our collection books!

'Nuff said.

~73!~ de Eddy VE3CUI - VE3XZ


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UR RST IS ... ... ..9 QSB QSB - hw? BK