In article , Alun Palmer
writes:

(N2EY) wrote in
:

In article , Alun Palmer
writes:

40 m is a band, not a frequency. Big difference between plopping down
an SSB signal on 7030 and 7230.

I mean between 7040 and 7100, which is phone, except here.

"Here" is all of Region 2. A big part of the world.

No, only the USA, it's still phone in the rest of R2

No, it isn't. Other modes are authorized, not just 'phone.

I think you'll find it isn't being fixed.

Sure it is, but it will take time. Before the end of the decade
7000-7200 will be worldwide exclusive amateur. That's double what
Region 1 and Region 3 have now. It will make sense for those regions to
move their 'phone up above 7100 and leave below 7100 to CW and digital.


Not while the US has CW in 7100-7150. As long as that's the case it makes
more sense _to_them_ to leave 7000-7100 unchanged and split the 'new'
7100-7200 50/50. Net gain to you - zero.

If it gets the foreign 'phones off of 7030, it's a gain.

The ARRL bandplan is the only
one out of step, so nobody else is likely to change theirs,
notwithstanding Europe and some other areas getting 7100-7200 as
additional spectrum in 2007.

What part of the world will not get 7100-7200?

None

There you are.

And why should Region 2
change now, with the band getting wider?

You mean the US, and I don't suppose the ARRL will change

It's not just ARRL but FCC.

All that will happen is that a DX window will
appear from 7150-7200, but the DX will continue to use phone everywhere
they use it now - indefinitely. Sorry to be the one to break that to
you!

So their lack of a bandplan and good manners should cause the USA to
follow their lead? I think not!

They have a bandplan. Phone stays above at least 7040, except 7030 in R3.

There are Canadians operating LSB on 7030.

That's not the bandplan you want, but it's a bandplan. The reference to
good manners I don't follow.

The folks who don't follow the bandplan have bad manners. Having a Canadian SSB
net on 7030 when they have 7000-7030 is bad manners.

I don't expect the USA to follow anyone's
lead. Just don't be surprised when no-one follows the USA's lead either.

And the result is chaos.

800 is pretty high. 600-700 is more common among CW ops. The SSB audio
passband is typically 300-2700 Hz, so 600 or even 800 is pretty low.
1500 would be smack in the middle.

True enough

This of course would be what you
would get if they netted onto the SSB and then offset by their usual
amount.

There is no offset in CW. The carriers are all on the same frequency.

Point is that what sounds like "right on top" may not sound that way
to the other guy.

It depends which side of the nominal carrier frequency the CW signal is
on. However, assuming my SSB filter is working, I would say they were
low, i.e. on the same side as the LSB sideband, or I would be filtering
them out. This also puts them almost in the middle of the SSB signal,
doesn't it?

No. Their tone would be 1500 if it were in the middle.

Listen to a busy CW contest with a wide (AM bandwidth) rx and it
sounds like a pile of intentional inteference. Switch in appropriate
filters and you find that almost all of the stations have spaced
themselves so they don't overlap.

Neither am I
talking about weak phone stations, although they could be weak at
some other QTH.

That's another point.

Of course the DX 'phones could have switched to CW and answered
the CQers, then politely asked them to move.

But they didn't, did they?

*My Southgate Type 7 has two cascaded 8 pole 500 Hz crystal
filters, giving an effective bandwidth of less than 400 Hz and
very steep filter skirts. And it has an audio LC filter as well.


So, if say, you called QRU? on 7080 and there was a strong signal
SSB QSO in progress, would you be able to tell? This is a genuine
question.

I would listen first and steer clear of anyhting that sounds like
SSB. Then I'd send "IE" a few times to test the waters. If I heard
something start up when I did that, I'd move.

But usually I am below 7060. Above about 7060 is data and foreign SSB
country.

I
don't posses a CW filter.

One of the reasons some hams get turned off to CW is that they use
equipment that really isn't meant for the mode. Most HF rigs today
are primarily SSB rigs with CW tacked on. Some are pretty good, many
are awful.


If I need it I have an outboard audio filter

Ugh. Audio filters are no substitute for IF filtering. And unless the
AGC is turned off, QRM can dominate the receiver.


True, but I don't really need a narrow CW filter for anything

Data modes.

(a Radio Shack DSP unit,
which is fairly basic and suffers from low audio output). I hadn't
thought about that when I said I had no CW filter. It tends to 'take
off' on 20 with RF getting inside it, but it's OK on 40.

What sort of rig?

I use an IC-729 in my shack. Excellent receiver RF performance.

Compared to what? No offense, but there are some really good rigs out there.

Not very
good audio, though. Ironically it has nowhere to fit a narrow SSB filter,
but has a place for a CW filter (nothing in there, of course).

Couldn't a narrow SSB filter be put in the CW slot?

Not the
Rolls Royce of radios, but I'm not overloaded with cash.

The Southgate Type 7 cost me less than $100 to build.

I am guessing you would hear something,though?

Depends on the situation. Usually SSB sounds like monkey chatter
through a narrow filter. But near the edges it can be very weak or
inaudible.

As I've explained, I think this is going on in the middle of the SSB
sigs, which is another reason to be suspicious

Sure. But 1500 is the middle, not 800.

The best solution is for wide and narrow modes to have their own
subbands. They simply don't mix well.

Yes

So when will the rest of the world get on the beam and have nonphone
subbands?

They do, and they have done as long as I remember. In some countries they
are voluntary, and in others they are compulsory, but nowhere are they as
wide as in the USA.

Time for them to get on the beam, then.

A notch filter can remove a carrier or CW signal.

True, not that I have one, though

Well, there you have it.

73 de Jim, N2EY