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.

"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 Tue, 01 Aug 2006 18:31:57 GMT, "Sanjaya"
wrote:
"mcnowinski" wrote in message
oups.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.


For some easy practice with fine tuning, he may wish to tune in strong
mediumwave broadcast stations in SSB. It's much easier to "catch"
WABC's 50kw on 770 than some hams on 3941.

(I also do that to "center" the fine tuning knob on my portables,
before exploring for SSB transmissions. It makes it easier to figure
out exactly which frequency is closest to the signal before adjusting
the fine tuning.)

"Thank you Comrade Stalin for our happy lives!"
--
Col. I.P. Yurin
Commissariat of Internal Security

Stakhanovite
Order of Lenin (1937)
Hero of Socialist Labor (1939)

I find the AC Adapter when plugged in makes the Radio Unstable in SSB mode,
too much Ripple. Use a Better Power Supply, or run on batteries.

"I.P. Yurin" wrote in message
...
On Tue, 01 Aug 2006 18:31:57 GMT, "Sanjaya"
wrote:
"mcnowinski" wrote in message
roups.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.


For some easy practice with fine tuning, he may wish to tune in strong
mediumwave broadcast stations in SSB. It's much easier to "catch"
WABC's 50kw on 770 than some hams on 3941.

(I also do that to "center" the fine tuning knob on my portables,
before exploring for SSB transmissions. It makes it easier to figure
out exactly which frequency is closest to the signal before adjusting
the fine tuning.)

"Thank you Comrade Stalin for our happy lives!"
--
Col. I.P. Yurin
Commissariat of Internal Security

Stakhanovite
Order of Lenin (1937)
Hero of Socialist Labor (1939)

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

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