May 2008

ALC

• 'Real Life Dynamic Range of Modern Amateur Transceivers' by SM5BSZ

• 'Speech Processing for SSB Transmitters' by SM5BSZ

• How to Set Up Your Speech Processor

• 'Inside a Directional Wattmeter' ('In Practice', September 2002)

• Monitoring the quality of outgoing PSK transmissions:
  - PSKMeter by KF6VSG
  - IMD Meter by KK7UQ

April 2008

Ribbon connectors

Some illustrated guides to DIY assembly: 1 2 3 4 .

The "CQ" connector

OK, you saw the joke... but the part about E Clark Quackenbush is true!

March 2008

Heat shrink sleeving

Go to any of the suppliers on the UK Component and Tool Suppliers page, and search their websites for the keywords 'heat shrink'!

February 2008

Do I need a narrower roofing filter?

The above is the subtitle that I wrote, and saw in the proof copy. The subtitle that appeared in print was someone else's invention, and gives an inaccurate impression of the whole article.

References:

• Sherwood Engineering's RX performance tables UPDATED

• CDG2000 transceiver

• INRAD's viewpoint on roofing filters

• Elecraft's viewpoint.

January 2008

External noise levels

Larger version of Figure 1

Corrections (sent to Radcom but not included):

• Page 40, middle column, 2nd paragraph should read: 'Local conditions will obviously vary a lot, but the big, broad trend is the same everywhere.'
   
• Page 41, top of third column, should read: 'A receiver whose internal noise level is the same as the 0dB level on Figure 1 would have a NF of 3dB.'

References:

• ITU paper on noise levels (4MB)

• Noise Figure - Agilent Application Note 57-2  (1.2MB)