[TenTec] Humor and Questions

[Grant Youngman]

> manual. Are people using and happy with the Panoramic Stereo 
> feature for zero beating the cw signal when the apparent 
> volume is equal in both ears?

As Mark Erbaugh replied in another post, that really isn't the point.  

It is something of an acquired taste.  Like others, I am a bit hard of
hearing in one ear, so I use an external headphone amp with a L/R balance
control, although that isn't really necessary (unless you have a major
difference) as long as you know where in the spatial field the zero-beat
signal falls.

I find it works best with a wider bandwidth -- at least 1Khz, and often
wider.  It lets you listen to a fairly wide frequency band so you can hear
off-frequency activity, and let the brain use spatial clues in addition to
pitch to focus on the signal you want.  I find it very effective, but YMMV.
Zero beating, if you want to use it for that, works ok -- just place the
desired signal between the eyes :-)  It's accurate enough most of the time.

To some extent it's much like being at a cocktail party and being able to
focus on one converstation out of many.  Of course, as often happens in a
contest or chasing DX, if there are forty lids deserving of the services of
the Wouff Hong pounding away on the frequency of the station you're trying
to work, it isn't a help :-)  And in a ragchew, it's easier just to zero
beat the guy you're talking to and crank down the bandwidth.

Grant/NQ5T