[CQ-Contest] Contest SSB Frequencies

[Barry Jacobson]

You hit the nail on the head! That is why since I was a kid was so afraid
of SSB. I wore hearing aids then. But few years back, had to get cochlear
implant. While it is louder, but there are issues with frequency
distortion. Have written papers on Biorxiv.org about this. Was out of ham
radio for a while. But recently got an FTDX101D and I am really surprised
how good the SSB audio is, despite the cochlear implant. If you get the
sweet spot, which is usually where maximum bass is, it sounds to me almost
as good as in person. I set radio for widest response, except maybe roll
off below 100 Hz if I use my Heath SB-600 speaker which has deep bass. I am
still learning SSB, and find in contests some guys use pre-recorded audio
where they swallow their words. No matter how many times you listen to
their call, can't get it. Very important to enunciate each syllable and
character, especially if recording.

Best,

Barry WA2VIU

--
Barry Jacobson
WA2VIU
bdj at alum.mit.edu
@bdj_phd

On Wed, Aug 16, 2023, 12:25 PM <pwhelton at earthlink.net> wrote:

> Hi Barry.  This probably won't answer your question but I did want to
> comment where the guy "wanted to know your exact frequency so he could tune
> it better".  His comment is exactly why I don't like SSB contests.  To me
> everyone sounds like a duck and I have a hard time tuning them in.   Don't
> get me wrong I do participate in SSB contests but they are not my favorite.
>
> As an aside on CW I usually shoot for .050 Khz (i.e.:  21.015.50,
> 21.031.50,
> 21.037.50, etc).
>
> Regards,
>
> Pat - KZ5J
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: CQ-Contest <cq-contest-bounces+pwhelton=earthlink.net at contesting.com
> >
> On Behalf Of Barry Jacobson
> Sent: Wednesday, August 16, 2023 9:51 AM
> To: CQ-Contest Reflector <CQ-Contest at contesting.com>
> Subject: [CQ-Contest] Contest SSB Frequencies
>
> Hi, due to poor hearing, I am not on SSB that much, but mainly CW. However,
> some improvements with my hearing device have made me more willing to try
> SSB. I am wondering if people always use integral number of KHz. In CW, I
> never paid attention to exact freq, just found empty freq in band and
> called
> CQ. But recently was calling CQ for a ragchew in SSB, and the fellow said I
> am on a fractional freq and wanted to know exactly what it was so he could
> tune it better. Said was unusual. Is that always the practice in SSB and in
> SSB contests to use whole numbers? I imagine the bands get crowded and not
> always so easy to find a whole number freq. Please correct me if that is
> standard practice in CW and RTTY, as well, something I never knew about.
>
> 73,
>
> Barry WA2VIU
>
> --
> Barry Jacobson
> WA2VIU
> bdj at alum.mit.edu
> @bdj_phd
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