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Re: Topband: What's best (your opinion)

To: <topband@contesting.com>, "Dave Blaschke" <w5un@wt.net>
Subject: Re: Topband: What's best (your opinion)
From: "Tom Rauch" <w8ji@contesting.com>
Reply-to: Tom Rauch <w8ji@contesting.com>
Date: Thu, 15 Feb 2007 19:46:18 -0500
List-post: <mailto:topband@contesting.com>
> I am on 1.823.5 calling CQ and working stations. A station 
> shows up
> at 1.823.8 and another at 1.823.2, both with S9+20 db 
> signals, and
> calling CQ. What current radio, and with which roofing 
> filter(s) can
> handle this situation best?

Well, if you have a stock Yaesu and have not corrected the 
noise blanker you are in for problems.
http://www.w8ji.com/ft-1000_noise_blanker_mod.htm

>  I currently use a FT1000D with 4 kHz INRAD roofing 
> filter, together
> with 250, 500, and 2000 Hz filters. But I have no idea how 
> this
> compares with some of the more modern radios under the 
> above stated
> operating conditions.

The 4kHz Inrad may actually make the situation described 
above a bit worse, and at best will not make it better. The 
roofing filter will make things significantly better when 
one or both of the undesired signals falls outside the 
passband of the roofing filter...but won't do anything good 
for anything close. The added gain will almost certainly 
hurt, because the first mixer in the Yaesu has much better 
performance than later stages before the narrow filters. 
Anything we do in the Yaesu to increase gain in front of the 
narrow filters will generally decrease close-spaced IM 
performance. We never really want to increase gain before 
the selectivity once we are above the antenna noise floor.

The worse Yaesu's I have measured show an almost one for one 
decrease in close spaced IM dynamic range as gain in front 
of the 8MHz IF is increased, and the best only show a small 
deterioration. This varies from radio to radio, not just 
model to model.

I've had quite a few radios here. Second to the modified 
Drakes I actually prefer the FT1000MK V with corrected noise 
blanker for receiving. I'm sure other people have other 
preferences.

73 Tom 


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