Gerry and others,

www.MacForTheBlind.com

Has several mac and IOS tutorials and one is specifically on email.  John 
does a great job in his digital audio Mac tutorials.  I'd be glad to share 
what I know about it, Gerry, but John's tutorials are first class and he is 
also an authorized Apple tech support type guy and really knows Apple 
products and their usage.

The KX3 is pretty cool.  I did not know that about the Icom 7000 and the ham 
pod, but I did know N4PY has software that works with the 7000.

I certainly understand the frustration with getting started with any new 
phone or product but that tutorials are really great and he is adding to 
them frequently.

Phil.
K0NX




----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Gerry Leary" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Wednesday, October 21, 2015 4:32 PM
Subject: Re: Sideband Audio


> Hello Phil, I found the same thing and still find the same thing to him 
> band=
> s. Now that I have an allograft KX three and a ham pod I can set most of 
> the=
> things in the radio by myself. I have been contesting with myself to set 
> my=
> radio so that I don't have to use phonetics for my call sign. Also in this 
> r=
> adio I can turn the monitor on and actually listen to what I sound like. I 
> h=
> ave found that the cleaner I get my audio the better my queue RP signal 
> is. T=
> his queue RP stuff has gotten me addicted and I'm having an extreme amount 
> o=
> f fun with it. So much fun but I haven't bothered playing with the 100 W 
> bui=
> ld craft amplifier. Did you know that Rob Santello is working on software 
> so=
> that the him pod can control the ICOM 7000? I sold my I come 706, and my I 
> c=
> ome 7000 earlier this year.
>
> Sent from my iPhone this time=20
>
>> On Oct 20, 2015, at 8:30 PM, Phil Scovell <[log in to unmask]> 
>> wrote=
> :
>>=20
>> Sideband audio has been a thing of controversy as long as I've had a 
>> phone=
> =20
>> license which happened in November 1966.  Now, every rig comes with=20
>> bandwidth adjustments, ALC setting capability, and audio compression. 
>> Whe=
> n=20
>> I was a novice is April of 1966, I heard we had 150,000 American hams. 
>> I=20=
>
>> forget the last count I heard but it was hundreds of thousands more 
>> than=20=
>
>> that now.  Yet, I am convinced sideband audio is worse today than with 
>> the=
> =20
>> old rigs of years ago.  Now, guys have hundreds of dollars invested in 
>> hig=
> h=20
>> dollar microphones and equalizers, not to mention their audio 
>> bandwidth=20=
>
>> settings, compressions, gain and ALC settings and we still can't get 
>> it=20=
>
>> right.  I am amazed at the number of daily signals I run across that 
>> are=20=
>
>> nothing short of trash radio and when the CQ WW sideband contest comes up 
>> a=
> t=20
>> the end of this month, you can't help but hear what I am talking about. 
>> I=
> =20
>> started out with a Viking Ranger 1 and 65 watts of A M but my borrowed=20
>> microphone was wired wrong, so I never made an A M contact with that 
>> range=
> r=20
>> because my mom bought me a Drake TR4 for Christmas and I was able to get 
>> i=
> t=20
>> on the air for the Christmas holidays during those two weeks, or three, 
>> ou=
> t=20
>> of school.  By far, the majority of sideband signals have good audio but 
>> I=
> =20
>> am amazed, as already stated, how horribly screwed up guys can get 
>> their=20=
>
>> audio to sounds with expensive transceivers.  I was tuning 20 phone a 
>> few=20=
>
>> days ago and ran across a W5, about S9, with clean audio.  I stopped 
>> to=20=
>
>> listen.  He turned it over to a friend he apparently has known for 
>> some=20=
>
>> time.  I could not, even after 5 minutes of tuning up and down and 
>> across=20=
>
>> his signal, fine tune his audio to where I could actually understand 
>> his=20=
>
>> words.  His signal must have been tuned to the most narrow setting of=20
>> bandwidth, and his compressor was so tight, I simply could only get about 
>> 1=
> =20
>> out of every five words.  He sounded like he was talking into a empty 
>> beer=
> =20
>> can.  I could tell his W5 friend was understanding him better than I was 
>> b=
> ut=20
>> not much better.  When I was tuning the 75 meter band one morning at age 
>> 1=
> 5,=20
>> I had been up almost all night hamming.  It was nearing sunrise when I 
>> tun=
> ed=20
>> across a very strong S9 signal who was 15 KHz either side of zero beat. 
>> I=
> =20
>> was taught that gentleman hams told others if their audio was bad and 
>> offe=
> r=20
>> to help them make changes to get it sounding better if they asked.  I 
>> don'=
> t=20
>> do that any more because of how guys fly off the handle when you tell 
>> them=
> =20
>> they need to work on their audio.  If it is a friend, I will, but 
>> otherwis=
> e,=20
>> I leave people alone now.  As I was saying, this guy was 30 KHz wide=20
>> overall.  I broke in and told him of my findings.  Oh, by the way, the 
>> fla=
> t=20
>> plate, called the skirt, behind the Drake TR4 VFO knob I had marked 
>> with=20=
>
>> half strips, in width, of dymo tape.  Every 5 KHz, I had those pieces 
>> of=20=
>
>> plastic tape sticking up a quarter of an inch above the edge of the 
>> skirt.=
> =20
>> Those strips of tape that were flat against the skirt were 1 KHz.  I had 
>> a=
> =20
>> friend with a Collins KWM2 challenge me by naming frequencies on 15 
>> meters=
> =20
>> one day, he lived a mile from my house, to see how close I got to his 
>> reed=
> =20
>> out.  We went to 3 frequencies and each time he said, according to his 
>> dia=
> l,=20
>> I was 200 Hz off.  Of course, this was during analogue days and long 
>> befor=
> e=20
>> digital read outs.  Collins had great analogue dials back then.  I think 
>> a=
> =20
>> blind guy told me he did the same type of taping on the skirt behind the 
>> V=
> FO=20
>> knob on his Drake Twins, too.  Anyhow, I got off the track.  The guy 
>> that=20=
>
>> was so wide on 75 meters was very friendly and said he appreciated me 
>> taki=
> ng=20
>> time to give him that report about his audio.  I found out he was 
>> running=20=
>
>> the HT37 and since we ran one of those on sideband at the school for 
>> the=20=
>
>> blind in Nebraska, I knew exactly how easy it was to widen out your 
>> signal=
> =20
>> with one of those rigs.  This guy had no ALC to help control over 
>> driving=20=
>
>> his rig so he was as wide as a barn door without realizing it.  Now, if I 
>> a=
> m=20
>> 5 KHz away from a 20 over S9 signal with my Icom 7000, I cannot hear 
>> any=20=
>
>> splatter, even if they were running 3 KHz of band width for modulation. 
>> I=
> =20
>> can hear some splatter if he is 5 KHz away and 30 over S9 but rarely 
>> can=20=
>
>> anyone reach 30 over on my meter.  A 10 over S9 signal is a loud signal 
>> fo=
> r=20
>> me on my radio now.  Anyhow, my point is that with all the software 
>> driven=
> =20
>> radios today, and all the compressors, and band width control, and 
>> high=20=
>
>> dollar microphones, and equalizers, I can't figure out why guys can't 
>> get=20=
>
>> their sideband signal to sound clean.  The real test is during Sweep 
>> State=
> s=20
>> phone.  Man, if you live here and point a beam west, you are going to 
>> hear=
> =20
>> signals that sound like a mobile sitting in your front yard.
>>=20
>> Phil.
>> K0NX
>