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You need to pay this guy! K0CN

N6OIL
N6OIL Member ✭✭
edited June 2020 in SmartSDR for Windows
Ok I hope FRS has Al K0CN on their payroll because his latest YouTube video is really awesome. I thought I knew what all the filters did and how to adjust them but after watching Al's video it now makes a lot more sense. So my tin foil hat is off to you Al. 73
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qqtj8CS_UE4

Comments

  • N6OIL
    N6OIL Member ✭✭
    edited September 2018
    Oh i almost forgot another ham I would like to mention is Ken NM9P for his great video on setting up mic profiles. 
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LytzQGpE5ZM
  • Kevin
    Kevin Member
    edited July 2019
    Helpful video from Al. And Ken's videos on setting up great audio have been real helpful too.

    Steve Ellington has some nice vids also. He has a detailed one for setting up AGC-T with a demo of what things sound like when it is set right: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hwm6rszuMis&t=11s

    K4DSP, Doug has a good one on setting up a VHF transverter. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w8JQ0SIUlI8

    Maybe we need some Flex Webby awards complete with walks down the red carpet and the showing off of wardrobes. Well, maybe just the award.

    Thanks to those that share.

    73,
    Kev K4VD
  • Kevin
    Kevin Member
    edited January 2017
    I'm fairly new to SSB but have had the opportunity to use the ANF a few times. I think it is working well. When listening to a QSO the ANF seems to do an excellent job of blanking out a tuner-upper or other constant signal. I wasn't aware of previous issues.

    Kev

  • Ken - NM9P
    Ken - NM9P Member ✭✭✭
    edited June 2020
    I was thinking about making a video tutorial about these exact controls. I guess I can mark it off my list. K0CN has done a better job than I would have done on this one! Well done!
  • Ken - NM9P
    Ken - NM9P Member ✭✭✭
    edited January 2017
    Paul. ANF is MUCH improved, but still needs a little tweaking, in my book. It is useful if adjusted properly. But whenever I have trouble with a carrier or CW signal when in SSB, I use TNF anyway. It takes only a second to activate it and drag it into position, and it adds no distortion at all, other than what you would expect with that particular narrow band of audio being chopped out Ida SSB signal. What's more...you can stack several next to each other if you have several carriers in the same audio band. I used to have a router that dumped three or four carriers right on top of a favorite 10 meter frequency.. I set up several TNF notches and I could hear the dx again... A bit thin, yes, but I could hear him! I have not seen that with anyone else's ANF....
  • Ken - NM9P
    Ken - NM9P Member ✭✭✭
    edited January 2017
    BTW, I found a combo of NR and APF, combined with careful adjustment of the AGC-T to be extremely helpful in digging weak stations out of a noisy 160 Meter band during this weekend's CQ 160 CW contest.

    Filter at 50 Hz, NR at 10, APF at 30-35, AGC at FAST, and adjust the agc-t level as described. I also added a little help from RX EQ 500 Hz all the way up and all the rest all the way down. With CW Pitch at 500 Hz. After making any changes, I always tweak the AGC-T to maximize SNR and it is amazing!
  • Tim - W4TME
    Tim - W4TME Administrator, FlexRadio Employee admin
    edited January 2017
    The "T" in TNF stand for tracking.  Once you place a TNF notch filter on an offending signal, it stays on frequency regardless of where the slice is tuned because it is removing RF, not audio.  This the advantage over audio frequency based notch filters.
  • Ken - NM9P
    Ken - NM9P Member ✭✭✭
    edited January 2017
    Exactly!  The only thing better would be to have one or two tracking filters that can be set to automatically set to an offending carrier within the RX passband when a button is pushed, and delete themselves when the button is pushed again - the best of both worlds......Most of the offending carriers I have seen do not change rapidly enough to need a notch that automatically adjusts its frequency all the time.... just hit filter and it sets, semi-permanently, until cleared.....I would trade that for the ANF we have now in a heartbeat.

    Ken - NM9P
  • Steve W6SDM
    Steve W6SDM Member ✭✭✭
    edited January 2017
    Rory, very nicely done.  That was easy to follow, even for me.  I haven't done a whole lot of experimenting with the various noise filters, but I will now.
  • Tim - W4TME
    Tim - W4TME Administrator, FlexRadio Employee admin
    edited January 2017
    Paul,  you wrote...

     Isn't this simply what a plain old manual notch does? Adjust a control to null out a heterodyne and it stays there until re-adjusted or turned off. Surely 'tracking' implies the ability to follow something as it moves?

    No.  Notch filters remove audio tones at a certain frequency.  If you have a notch filter defined on a legacy radio and change the frequency of the receiver, the tone changes frequency and the ANF has to retrain on the new frequency, so you hear the tone before the notch filter converges.  TFN remove the offending signal in the RF domain, not in the demodulated audio frequency (AF) domain, so when you change the frequency of the receiver, the notch filter "tracks" along and doesn't require retraining on the signal.  The other big difference is if you are listening to a weak signal and a S9+20 heterodyne shows up in your passband, that large signal, even after notched will capture the AGC and reduce gain, eliminating the weak signal.  Because TNF removes the offending RF from the demodulator before the signal in the RX passband is demodulated, the same S9+20 signal has no effect on the AGC.

    2) under what circumstances would one wish to notch out a carrier if it is outside the RX passband?

    I work 6m a lot.  At my QTH I have over 150 "carriers" from a plethora of RFI emitting devices around me from 50.0 through 50.300.  I use the TNF to notch out those offending signals and since most are permanent and do not change frequency, I make the TNFs persistent.  So when I tune through the 6m band, I am not constantly being bombarded with the annoying tones that change frequency as I sweep through the 6m band; I hear only signal.
  • Dallas Ward
    Dallas Ward Member
    edited October 2018
    Al's K0CN video on noise mitigation uses a red line to imply the Wideband noise control.  It would be wonderful if that red line is incorporated into the  SSDR package.  The guess work would be supplemented with a visual indication on where the level is set. Could it be turned on and off if possible? 

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