[CQ-Contest] Clicks

[Pete Smith]

At 03:30 AM 3/8/01 -0800, Michael Tope wrote:
 >I am curious if there are any standards for measuring click performance?
In other
 >words, how do you attach a number to a transient event like a key click?
N0AX
 >described a procedure for measuring key click performance using a spectrum
 >analyzer. How does one correlate the spectrum analyzer readings with what is
 >acceptable and what isn't? Obviously lower spurious readings on the spectrum
 >analyzer are better than higher ones, but how good is good enough? All our
rigs,
 >have finite phase noise, harmonics,  and IMD performance yet at some point we
 >say - "good enough" - its a clean rig.

Very good question.  The ARRL Handbook points out that there is a
correlation between the rise/fall times of the RF envelope, CW speed and
intelligibility, with some degree of "hardness" being necessary to support
higher-speed CW.

I've been told, however, that synthesizer anomalies produce "unnecessary"
clicks, and that the Omni 6+ is particularly clean -- if so, perhaps its
level of clickiness could become a de facto standard of comparison.

73, Pete N4ZR
Contesting is!

The World Contest Station Database
is waiting for your input at
http://www.qsl.net/n4zr 


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