Lou:
Well, I suppose I could check it using my THF6A as the receiver, but I'm not
quite sure how to fix the problem in the TS590 if it does exist.
I've never gotten complaints about being off frequency in CW QSO's, but I do
notice a slight discrepancy between CW and CW reverse. This leads me to
believe I might not be quite zero beating.
Will see what others might suggest.
Tom Behler: KB8TYJ
-----Original Message-----
From: For blind ham radio operators [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
On Behalf Of Lou Kolb
Sent: Sunday, March 09, 2014 10:12 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: 4WeWhoDoCW,AGudRtikl;dd:Zero beating, what is it, how do we do
it and why should we do itf, By N3EF
Tom,
i've never used a 590 so I don't know for sure whether the transmitter
frequency tracks the sidetone or not but I'm sure someone on here will know.
I suppose the best way to check is with another receiver on which you can
listen and compare the incoming signal with your own. The K3 is neither the
first nor the only transceiver to have this feature but its the first one
i've owned that could do it and I'd be loath to give it up.
Lou Kolb
Voice-over Artist:
Radio/TV Ads, Video narrations
Messages On-hold:
www.loukolb.com
----- Original Message -----
From: "Tom Behler" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Sunday, March 09, 2014 10:03 AM
Subject: Re: 4WeWhoDoCW,AGudRtikl;dd:Zero beating, what is it, how do we do
it and why should we do itf, By N3EF
> Lou:
>
> I'm hoping the TS590 sidetone is set up similarly to that of the K3.
>
> I have a preferred pitch for CW listening, and I always thought that
> the
> TS590 would allow me to use that side tone as a reference when zero
> beating the other station.
>
> I am just a bit concerned that the tone frequencies don't perfectly
> match when I listen to another station in CW and then in CW reverse modes.
>
> I'll be curious to see what other have to say about this.
>
> Tom Behler: KB8TYJ
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: For blind ham radio operators
> [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
> On Behalf Of Lou Kolb
> Sent: Sunday, March 09, 2014 9:41 AM
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Re: 4WeWhoDoCW,AGudRtikl;dd:Zero beating, what is it, how do
> we do it and why should we do itf, By N3EF
>
> Danny,
>
> Great article on something that has long been a pet peev of mine. Most
> ops probably don't even know where they have to tune a signal for it
> to be exactly zero-beat with the other station. They just tune to a
> pitch they like which may or may not be right on frequency. The K3
> sidetone tracks the transmitter offset frequency so its extremely easy
> to zerobeat. You just choose a sidetone you like and make sure your
> receiver matches it when you tune in a signal and you're good to go. I
> think several newer transceivers are set up like this but for far too
> long it was harder than it should've been to zero-beat on CW.
> Lou Kolb
> Voice-over Artist:
> Radio/TV Ads, Video narrations
> Messages On-hold:
> www.loukolb.com
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Dan B Dyer Jr,/Danny" <[log in to unmask]>
> To: <[log in to unmask]>
> Sent: Sunday, March 09, 2014 8:03 AM
> Subject: 4WeWhoDoCW,AGudRtikl;dd:Zero beating, what is it, how do we
> do it and why should we do itf, By N3EF
>
>
>> Found this referenced on the QRPL list, and thought it a good simple,
>> wake up call-reminder, and one which will cause me to make sure my
>> side tone is set as required. HTH, Wb4idu.
>> Zero beating, what is it, how do we do it and why should we do it
>>
>> By N3EF
>> First, lets define what zero beating is in general. Zero beat is the
>> condition reached during a measurement or calibration when the beat
>> frequency between two input signals is no longer detectable. And the
>> beat frequency is the frequency produced when two signals are mixed
>> or combined.
>> The beat frequency equals the difference or offset between the two
>> frequencies. In cw, we are using two audio frequencies to do this.
>> One frequency is your sidetone and the other is the pitch of the
>> received cw signal which changes as you adjust the tuning dial. In
>> reality, we are not listening for the beat frequency. We are
>> listening for the sound of the two signals going in and out of phase
>> with each other as the two frequencies get close to each other. The
>> two frequencies are so close, you can barely tell the difference
>> between them, but you can hear a change in intensity as they go in
>> and out of phase with each other adding and subtracting in level. It is a
"wow...wow...wow.."
>> sound that gets slower and slower as the two signals get closer and
>> closer in frequency. It is more pronounced if the two signal levels
>> are the same so you may need to adjust your volume and/or sidetone
>> level. It is easier to hear the "wow...wow" sound when listening to
>> two steady tones, but you can also detect it with one steady tone and
>> one switching on and off such as cw morse code. Once you get the hang
>> of it, it becomes second nature and you can do it very quickly. Here
>> is the sound of two steady tones of around 750hz that start out at 50
>> cycles apart and gradually get closer until they are identical in
>> frequency. The sound of the two frequencies going in and out of phase
>> with each other is very
>> distinctive. wowwow.mp3 And here is what it sounds like when receiving
>> a
>> cw signal as I tune above and below his frequency. You can clearly
>> hear the distinctive sound made when the two frequencies are at or
>> very near each other. They start out with just the received cw and
>> then you hear my sidetone come on. zerobeat.mp3, zerobeat1.mp3,
>> zerobeat2.mp3.
>> Now, some of the old timers will tell you that this isn't "real"
>> zero-beating. They will tell you that zero-beating is the way we use
>> to do it when we had separate transmitters and receivers. Well, they
>> are wrong in telling you that. The way they did it was just another
>> way of getting your transmit frequency the same as the one you are
>> receiving and was also known as zero-beating. The way we do it now is
>> different, but it is still zero-beating.
>> So why should we zero-beat anyway? Well, if we don't, then we are
>> transmitting on two different frequencies and using more bandwidth
>> than necessary. You may be QRM'ing another nearby station. The other
>> op may not like the pitch of the tones he hears and must use his RIT
>> to
> change it.
>> The
>> other op may be using a narrow filter and not even hear your reply. I
>> recently operated with a special event callsign during the Straight
>> Key Century Club's first anniversary special event. There were
>> operators from each call district using the same callsign appended
>> with their respective call district. I was calling CQ 1Kz away from
> another SKCC operator.
>> People
>> answering just threw out their callsign without indicating who they
>> were responding to. This is normal and acceptable as a response but
>> some of them were 500Hz off frequency directly between us...so who
>> were they responding to? And what about the QRM they were causing
>> because they didn't take the time and effort to zero-beat. There was
>> no big pile-up going on here as it is an often used tactic to be
>> heard when there IS a pile-up. I was amazed at how many stations were
>> calling me so far off frequency. Some people don't know what
>> zero-beating is, some do but don't know how to do it, and some know
>> how but think it is totally unecessary. You don't have to spend a lot
>> of time and be exactly on frequency, but you should try to get close.
>> There
>> are many aspects of working CW that mark you as a good operator. I
>> think zero-beating is one of them.
>> There are other ways to zero-beat the other station. If your rig has
>> a cw-reverse mode, you can just switch back and forth from cw to
>> cw-reverse and adjust your dial until the tone sounds the same in
>> each mode. You can tune until you think your close and then turn on a
>> narrow filter and tune for max signal level. Some rigs like the Yaesu
>> FT-897 have a zero-beat indicator lamp. There are also zero-beat
>> indicator kits that you can adapt to your rig. If you have an audio
>> output to your computer you can use one of several programs available
>> to do it via your soundcard.
>> One other thing you need to be aware of is that some rigs have an
>> adjustable sidetone pitch that does not track the rigs transmit
>> offset. If you change the sidetone pitch, you can't use it to
>> zero-beat properly.
>> I hope this article and sound files have been of help and I hope you
>> consider zero-beating an important part of your operating practices.
>> Long live CW!
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