[TenTec] ORION II CW pile up readability related question

[Gary Tuck]

I feed the audio thru a Timewave DSP-59+ and an external speaker with  
a built in headphone jack (SP-230).  This allows a separate AF volume  
control and narrow DSP audio filtering if necessary--it seldom is.  In  
this configuration, I have the AF set at 54%,  because I feed the  
filter from the speaker jack in the rear of the rig.  If I have the  
headphones plugged into the VII's front panel jack, the AF is down  
about 2%.  Either my ears or my headphones are very sensitive and  
anything above that hurts.   I always use headphones.

I use the PRE on 17m and above and often on 20m.  I turn down the RF  
gain until the background noise is at a low level so that it's not  
tiring to listen.  This may be anywhere between 50-90% depending upon  
condx.   If a weak signal appears while tuning, I tweak the RF gain to  
see if I can improve the S/N ratio.  Sometimes I can.  I've not found  
an occasion where using the ATTN helps.  Very occasionally, engaging  
the NR helps in comfortably copying a signal.  At times the NB helps,  
especially with the Chinese ORH radar.

I use AGC medium on CW.  On occasion, I've used FAST with the RF gain  
turned way down if it helps readability.

Gary - W7TEA