View Full Version : Are you operating in the middle of a tornado?
Some hams have shack noise so loud, I could swear they were operating in the middle of 100mph winds. I can barely hear them above the fan noise!
What is it really? Too much compression? Too much mic gain? Or simply too many fans for their multikilowatt amps?
W5HTW
06-02-2008, 02:31 AM
YES! Too much mic gain, too much compression, and too much of the "All knobs full right" from the CB school of ham radio.
I had a fellow tell me he has a lot of noise on his transmitted audio from his power supply fan, on the floor beneath his desk. I have the same power supply, on top of the desk, almost touching my radio, and no noise on my audio.
It is, of course, common to pick on CBers, but it is also fact that the majority of CBers I knew, back when I was doing CB radio repair, loved those amplified mics, turned full blast, so when they talked you could hear the cat fight on a fence three houses away. They brought this "skill" to amateur radio. I'm not sure there is any way to correct it.
I think a lot of hams, including some of the ones who have been around a while, tend to think "more is better." So they turn the compression up from 10 percent to 80 percent, set the mic gain from 20 or 30 to 90 or 100, and blast away. To be honest, for the most part I use no compression at all, and you won't hear my power supply fan on the air. You won't hear my cats, either, even when they are on the radio desk.
There were old timers, in the days of AM, who did the same thing, except without compression. Their idea of how to transmit a good signal was to plug in the D-104, use a foot switch to transmit, and lean back in the recliner, with a lip-to-mike distance of five or six feet. If they moved at all, you heard the chair squeak.
We got away from that in the early days of SSB. Hams began to realize a mic really close to the lips, and lower - much, much lower - mic gain, was the key to intelligibility.
That is going away, thanks to the leftovers from the Turner Plus Two and Plus Three days of CB. Almost all of them I came across were sitting on 10.
You would think they would realize there is a problem when their wattmeter shows 100 watts forward in between words :)
One guy (a CT3) uses his vox, and sometimes it takes a full THREE to FIVE seconds for his transmitter to unkey when he stops speaking. You hear the fans in the background rising after he says "over..."
Some hams have shack noise so loud, I could swear they were operating in the middle of 100mph winds. I can barely hear them above the fan noise!
What is it really? Too much compression? Too much mic gain? Or simply too many fans for their multikilowatt amps?
Maybe all of the above?
Back in the day it was cool to have a lot of blower noise. Some guys thought that it made them sound more powerful.
On the other hand, some guys just couldnt help it. With a Swan 350 driving a SB-200 driving a pair of 4-1000s takes a lot of cooling. Then you add an audio processor like the old RP Compressor and a pretty sensitive mike (amplified or not), and you have the recipe for one heck of a racket.
I know guys that would run 300 watts or more of blower noise. They didn't realize that their voice peaks would only be 10 to 15 db above their idle noise. They wouldn't listen when somebody tried to tell them what it sounded like. They just didn't care.
ai4ep
06-02-2008, 02:58 AM
...sometimes you could get them to turn the mike gain DOWN, but first thing you know, they would have it turned right back UP again.
Usually after some one would accidently tell them to REPEAT something they said.
Yep, we have that same problem over here in Alabama too...it aint localized to just your area. (sigh ) :(
WA9SVD
06-03-2008, 12:54 AM
But, BUT, aren't you supposed to increase the mic gain until the ALC hits the "red zone" between words? That's what I was taught in the other service...
And unfortunately, "all controls to the right" reigns supreme. It's an impossible habit to break with some operators.
ai4ep
06-03-2008, 02:20 AM
...hee hee hee it is hard for some of you folks to lose that " cb mentality " , aint it ? hee hee hee :)
N0WVA
06-03-2008, 03:26 AM
But, BUT, aren't you supposed to increase the mic gain until the ALC hits the "red zone" between words? That's what I was taught in the other service...
And unfortunately, "all controls to the right" reigns supreme. It's an impossible habit to break with some operators.
No, your supposed to turn the compression up to where the tube plates in the amp are glowing beet red as soon as you hit the ptt switch.
No, your supposed to turn the compression up to where the tube plates in the amp are glowing beet red as soon as you hit the ptt switch.
Yep, then after the first word the plates turn white.
WA9SVD
06-03-2008, 05:24 AM
Yep, then after the first word the plates turn white.
You got it.:rolleyes::D
KC0PNH
06-03-2008, 02:52 PM
I dont know about you guys, but unless I turn my mic gain down to show ZERO deflection on ALC, people think there's RF in my audio. (I run the processor all the time, people have told me it sounds better)
Here's to good engineering...not quite sure why they'd make it work that way.
Tom
KC0PNH/AE
What is it really? Too much compression? Too much mic gain?
Both. All Knobs To The Right, you know. :rolleyes:
...hee hee hee it is hard for some of you folks to lose that " cb mentality " , aint it ? hee hee hee :)
You REALLY need to stop looking in the mirror, Bob. :eek:
k0cmh
06-03-2008, 03:56 PM
Man, I learn something here very day. I had no idea those knobs turned counterclockwise.:D
ai4ep
06-03-2008, 04:45 PM
as you can tall just by LISTENING to other stations talk, some folks just do NOT care how good or bad they sound.
listening is free you do it all the time so it must be ok for me to.
KI4RVH
06-04-2008, 02:01 AM
You REALLY need to stop looking in the mirror, Bob. :eek:
I've been thinking the same thing for a long time. I bet hes on 38 USB on a regular basis.;)
73
Chris
KI4RVH
06-04-2008, 02:03 AM
Some hams have shack noise so loud, I could swear they were operating in the middle of 100mph winds. I can barely hear them above the fan noise!
What is it really? Too much compression? Too much mic gain? Or simply too many fans for their multikilowatt amps?
Maybe they are practicing for a real tornado with live sound effects.:D
73
Chris
kb2vxa
06-04-2008, 02:35 AM
Smoke signals; another form of wireless.
KM5FL
06-04-2008, 03:40 AM
You REALLY need to stop looking in the mirror, Bob. :eek:
Robert just can't help himself.. He's on a post roll, you know.. Closing in on 15,000 posts.. :D :D
KM5FL
KB2SFH
06-04-2008, 09:58 AM
TOTO, I don't think we are in DX land anymore:eek:
He's on a post roll, you know.
Correction; that's a post troll. :D
W4INF
06-05-2008, 03:25 AM
Ryan, what is this thing you speak of, a mic? HA HA! I just put mine in a drawer a few weeks ago. Bands been so bad, the rig may follow! HA HA