Flex shows off just how wide some people are!

Steve Walker

With an early start to work planned I thought I'd have a play in the DX end of 40m and see who was about from the US this morning .... Alas! Something you'd not see in its full glory on a classic radio other than the splatter all over the upper edge of the band.

You've gotta feel for those finals. But goes to show how well it works with some tweaking I could drag the guys on 7.185 out, just.



But again thanks to FRS for a wonderful product that allows us to see the clean and the not so clean.

73 Steve

Jim Hawkins / K2JHV

I also found, after using the Flex Panadapter for awhile, that it teaches you more about the general characteristics of the station spectrum.  I can even often can tell WHO it is without listening to them, especially in the realm of wideband operators.  Different vowel sounds have a different waveshape and as one speaks, you can see how one vowel morphs into another.  't's and 'S's are barely seen on widths of 3KC or less, so, out of context, you could replace all your 't's with 'p's and 's's with 'f's and possibly get away with it.  At 3KC or less, it is harder to discern or understand someone with more of an accent because too much of the spectrum is missing.  It's like listening to someone with a heavy accent over the telephone.

So, the minimum "necessary" bandwidth is often a lot wider that what some like to believe as 2.7KC.
Of course, in a contest situation, it is best to stay at 3KC or less to pack more people into the band, otherwise it is unnecessary to limit one's self in an otherwise empty band.

Walt - KZ1F

I gather you like it then?

Barry N1EU

Not to rub salt into an old wound, but this is one way to pack more people into the ssb band and get those steep shoulders on panadapter traces:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xIimiVMmhmM

73, Barry N1EU

K1UO Larry

Thanks Barry...Nothing like a video to show what pure signal can really do. I think Flex has this on the list for a future enhancement ?  I remember reading where they said it could be easily incorporated into their 6000 series hardware/software.  It just takes time :-)

Barry N1EU

correct on all counts Larry

Peter Bentley

Beware.....

Its great to see how wide and distorted these people are, but don't try telling them...

You will probably get a lecture and abuse or worse about how they consider SDR radios

are rubbish.

So sad.  Quality will always succeed.....  As will FlexRadio  !!

From a Believer

G4BIM

Michael - N5TGL

Boy ain't that the truth.

Bill -VA3WTB

Not at all Barry, no salt, at least the Flex is already pretty clean....

Anthony Bowyer

Over several days, I noted one person with a similar signal on 10 meters. He would hit 15 khz in nastiness that could be both seen and heard.

I thot for sure he would like to be aware of it, so I did a screen shot and sent it to him, with just the comment "an interesting observation". Not trying to be or sound 'smart' about it.

I had sent it as an attachment the first time (zipped format) and he replied that he was unable to open it. The second time I just pasted the picture to the email. Funny, I got no reply at all.

The thing that stood out about this situation, was not that he was so wide, or that he did not reply, but how many people he talked to during the times I was listening, who told him how great his audio was!

Tim - W4TME

I have sent screen shots of offending signals like this directly to the operator.  I just tell then  I heard him all over the band and I took a high resolution image of it using a spectrum analyzer.  it is an FYI message and not one that criticizes. I usually offer to help if they are willing. I suspect a lot of ops do not know how bad they are splattering and once they know will try to correct the situation.  Others just don't give a darn and there isn't much you can do unless you know an OO (wink, wink)

Walt - KZ1F

Do OO's get special discounts?

Al K0VM

Looking at the image, I would not consider this station unreasonably wide..  The out of band pass intermod distortion, is > 35 db below the peak in band signal which is typical of what is considered acceptable for today's amateur radios.

AL, K0VM

K2CB Eric Dobrowansky

Acceptably clean for a 12v PA.  Not as clean as a 50v PA radio.

Now this is a CLEAN signal!

Un-named station running legal limit at 4KHz ESSB. 50db over S9 and razor sharp edges and non-existent opposite sidebands. Now THIS is a CLEAN signal!

K2CB Eric Dobrowansky

The only down side of being this clean is, even after running a frequency for a period of time,  you'll get someone coming right up within your receive passband.