Help!

I cannot seem to properly tune SSB on my 1103 (it is a Degen from
China). I have the sparse manual that comes with it, but following its
instructions (tune to channel in AM, then hit SSB button and use the
Fine Tuning knob) does not accomplish much. In fact, when I turn on
SSB, there is very little coming out of the receiver at all (no noise,
no signal, no nothing). I know that I must be missing something simple.


I have been listening in the 80/75-meter band (3500 to 4000 kHz) and I
can tune in some "Donald Duck"-like voices, but switching to SSB and
fiddling with the Fine Tuning knob seems useless.

Any help is greatly appreciated!

Thanks,

matt

"mcnowinski" wrote in message
ups.com...
Help!

I cannot seem to properly tune SSB on my 1103 (it is a Degen from
China). I have the sparse manual that comes with it, but following its
instructions (tune to channel in AM, then hit SSB button and use the
Fine Tuning knob) does not accomplish much. In fact, when I turn on
SSB, there is very little coming out of the receiver at all (no noise,
no signal, no nothing). I know that I must be missing something simple.


I have been listening in the 80/75-meter band (3500 to 4000 kHz) and I
can tune in some "Donald Duck"-like voices, but switching to SSB and
fiddling with the Fine Tuning knob seems useless.

Any help is greatly appreciated!

Thanks,

matt


"Fine" tuning means exactly that.

SSB on a portable is a delicate issue.

The fine tuning knob must be moved almost microscopically... I'm not kidding,
I'm talking fractions of a millimeter. It takes real practice. I have to brace my
hand on the radio body and use my thumb to imperceptibly move the knob.

Find your "Donald Duck" voice station(s), switch to SSB, and practice moving the knob
*minutely*. I can't emphasize that enough. It's almost like not moving the knob at all.

Depending on your location try some of the AFRTS stations (all are USB). You need a good
approximation
of the center point for the tuning knob. If the station is a whole number frequency, enter
that frequency, switch on SSB and fine tune. (see above). If the AFRTS station is
something like 12133.5, enter 12133, switch to SSB and move the knob "up" from the center
position. (You can use 12134, switch to SSB, then tune "down".)

Go to http://www.primetimeshortwave. com for English schedules showing AFRTS. Never has
it been more true that "Practice makes perfect", than for SSB on a portable.

Matt,

Set the BFO control on the right side to the middle point. Thats about
2.5 tweaks from either end. Then when in the ssb mode tune in Donald
Duck unitl you get the best sound then fine tune with BFO knob. It
takes a safecracker's touch, but soon you won't have to think about it.


If you know when & where a particular net tunes up then you can just
hop on the frequency directly and fine tune bfo.

Up here in New England, Spirit net meets on 3905ish weeknights around
9pm I think.

73
NEO

mcnowinski wrote:
Help!

I cannot seem to properly tune SSB on my 1103 (it is a Degen from
China). I have the sparse manual that comes with it, but following its
instructions (tune to channel in AM, then hit SSB button and use the
Fine Tuning knob) does not accomplish much. In fact, when I turn on
SSB, there is very little coming out of the receiver at all (no noise,
no signal, no nothing). I know that I must be missing something simple.


I have been listening in the 80/75-meter band (3500 to 4000 kHz) and I
can tune in some "Donald Duck"-like voices, but switching to SSB and
fiddling with the Fine Tuning knob seems useless.

Any help is greatly appreciated!

Thanks,

matt

"Sanjaya" put an extra space where it shouldn't be and typed...

Go to http://www.primetimeshortwave. com for English schedules showing AFRTS. Never has
it been more true that "Practice makes perfect", than for SSB on a portable.



This link is right http://www.primetimeshortwave.com

On 1 Aug 2006 10:15:20 -0700, "mcnowinski"
wrote:

Help!

I cannot seem to properly tune SSB on my 1103 (it is a Degen from
China). I have the sparse manual that comes with it, but following its
instructions (tune to channel in AM, then hit SSB button and use the
Fine Tuning knob) does not accomplish much. In fact, when I turn on
SSB, there is very little coming out of the receiver at all (no noise,
no signal, no nothing). I know that I must be missing something simple.


I have been listening in the 80/75-meter band (3500 to 4000 kHz) and I
can tune in some "Donald Duck"-like voices, but switching to SSB and
fiddling with the Fine Tuning knob seems useless.

Any help is greatly appreciated!

Not much you can do. The one advantage a synchronous AM detector has
is that it can be phase locked to whatever is left of the carrier.
Without being able to do that, some amount of phase distortion in the
output of the product detectable is unavoicable unless you go the
Indepedent/quadrature modulated route. There is simply no way to
recover the phase relationships, so some the donald duck sound is a
fact of life with SSB reception.

Thanks,

matt

In article ,
matt weber wrote:

I have been listening in the 80/75-meter band (3500 to 4000 kHz) and I
can tune in some "Donald Duck"-like voices, but switching to SSB and
fiddling with the Fine Tuning knob seems useless.

Any help is greatly appreciated!

Not much you can do. The one advantage a synchronous AM detector has
is that it can be phase locked to whatever is left of the carrier.
Without being able to do that, some amount of phase distortion in the
output of the product detectable is unavoicable unless you go the
Indepedent/quadrature modulated route. There is simply no way to
recover the phase relationships, so some the donald duck sound is a
fact of life with SSB reception.

Unless the 1103 is defective, chances are the OP is just inexperienced.
It takes practice and patience to fine tune SSB signals on a small radio
like this. I have an 1102, and there is definitely a learning curve
involved.

Once you learn it, however, the 1102 is surprisingly capable.

Mike

Thanks for all of the suggestions, I will give it another try.

Is it normal for me not to hear anything in SSB until I hit near the
"sweet" spot with the BFO control?

Thanks again!

matt


Mike wrote:
In article ,
matt weber wrote:

I have been listening in the 80/75-meter band (3500 to 4000 kHz) and I
can tune in some "Donald Duck"-like voices, but switching to SSB and
fiddling with the Fine Tuning knob seems useless.

Any help is greatly appreciated!

Not much you can do. The one advantage a synchronous AM detector has
is that it can be phase locked to whatever is left of the carrier.
Without being able to do that, some amount of phase distortion in the
output of the product detectable is unavoicable unless you go the
Indepedent/quadrature modulated route. There is simply no way to
recover the phase relationships, so some the donald duck sound is a
fact of life with SSB reception.

Unless the 1103 is defective, chances are the OP is just inexperienced.
It takes practice and patience to fine tune SSB signals on a small radio
like this. I have an 1102, and there is definitely a learning curve
involved.

Once you learn it, however, the 1102 is surprisingly capable.

Mike

In article .com,
"mcnowinski" wrote:

Thanks for all of the suggestions, I will give it another try.

Is it normal for me not to hear anything in SSB until I hit near the
"sweet" spot with the BFO control?

Yes. I normally crank up the volume once I go into SSB mode, so it's
easier to fine tune. As you adjust the knob, you hear the Donald Duck
voice, and then it suddenly sounds normal.

Mike

Hi Matt, all, from Ken in the UK,

Matt, the best way to resolve SSB signals is to listen in the SSB mode, ie,
with the ssb switch on and the fine control set to the centre of it's
travel.
Remember, you must tune very slowly in one KHz steps, no good tuning fast,
you will resolve nothing.
Once you hear a strong ( to start with ) SSB signal then use the fine
control to resolve the speech best to suit your hears and the signal is
understandable.
If you find you can't tune the signal in by means of the fine control then
just adjust the frequency by one KHz one way or the other and try once again
to resolve the audio.
One final point, make sure you are listening on a band that uses SSB solely
( or a mixture of AM and SSB ).
The best band to start with is the 'Eighty Meter' band early in the evening.

If none of the above work then I'm afraid you may have a problem with your
radio.....sorry.

I do hope the above helps, cheers, Ken, G4KIR.

"mcnowinski" wrote in message
oups.com...
Thanks for all of the suggestions, I will give it another try.

Is it normal for me not to hear anything in SSB until I hit near the
"sweet" spot with the BFO control?

NO.

Thanks again!

matt

Had to click my tv remote to see what day and date this is.I am going to
the Goodwill store in about three hours.I am going to ask Pam to look at
my big tittys and tell me what size I am.
cuhulin