My thought is that if you want
audio compression, use a speech processor, not the ALC....

For sure...Another problem these days is some radios
deal with ALC indication in reverse from each other.
IE: I *think* most kenwoods will show more indication
the closer to the edge you get, and if you were to disable
the ALC. the meter would show very high peaks, or maybe
even peg. But many Icoms are reverse. The closer to the "edge"
you set them, the lower the indication. Or at least on my older
730. If you see no indication, Houston, we have a nasty problem.
When you reduce power on an icom, the ALC indication increases,
and I think pegs, if you dial down to QRP range.
One thing that strikes me as real silly, are the ones that try to get
more power by disabling the ALC function. All you gotta do is
turn a trimmer...But it makes the radio nasty as all get out, and
is silly. Not to mention the extra power amounts to little in the
real world, and then you add on the extra wear and tear on the
poor radio...Silly... I hear stories of people getting 140-150-160
watts outa lil IC -706's and I just roll my eyeballs... Boy, I bet
it sounds great...Not...MK