Receiver Frequency-Memory Structure

Most SW receivers offer the ability to store frequencies for later
recall. The number of frequency-memory locations provided varies
widely among receivers. The Sony ICF-2010 permits the storage of 32
frequencies in a 4 X 8 matrix of direct access buttons. The Drake R8B
provides 1000 memories arranged in ten lists with ten blocks of ten
channels (frequencies) numbered 000 thru 999. Other receivers vary in
the number they provide, with computer-controlled receivers
potentially providing more frequency-memory presets than there are
stations broadcasting.

The question arises, how to organize the station presets logically. It
would seem logical to group them by UTC time of day for convenience
and to overcome the difficulty that arises in grouping them by
frequency when different stations use the same frequency during
different times of the day.

Given the 24-hour format of UTC, if the maximum number of memory
locations (1000 for my Drake R8B) were to be used, it would be a
matter of dividing 1000 by 24 which yields ~41 presets per hour. That
seems a little excessive to me. At times there may indeed be 40
stations audible at the receiver location, but usually there are far
less (perhaps this is due to the current solar minimum?). At any
rate, if the 1000 memories were divided by 40, it would require an
absurd amount of mathematical calculation to ascertain the numbers of
which preset fell within which hour. For me, a more intuitive
structure is desirable.

The most logical arrangement I am currently able to conceive provides
only ten presets per hour using only 240 of the 1000 available memory
presets like this:

Preset # UTC
-------- ---
000 - 009 Midnight (0000)
010 - 019 0100
020 - 029 0200
... ...
090 - 099 0900
100 - 109 1000
110 - 119 1100
120 - 129 1200
130 - 139 1300
... ...
190 - 199 1900
200 - 209 2000
210 - 219 2100
220 - 229 2200
230 - 239 2300

(If the receiver manufacturer had provided 2400 presets, the
organizational structure would be simple.)

Perhaps the 760 presets above number 239 could be used to represent
frequencies such as 240 being 2.4 MHz and 500 = 5 MHz, ... But there
are probably better uses for this area of memory storage. I'll have
to give it a little more thought...

On Sat, 31 Mar 2007 17:32:49 GMT, Larry Dighera
wrote:


Receiver Frequency-Memory Structure

Most SW receivers offer the ability to store frequencies for later
recall. The number of frequency-memory locations provided varies
widely among receivers. The Sony ICF-2010 permits the storage of 32
frequencies in a 4 X 8 matrix of direct access buttons. The Drake R8B
provides 1000 memories arranged in ten lists with ten blocks of ten
channels (frequencies) numbered 000 thru 999. Other receivers vary in
the number they provide, with computer-controlled receivers
potentially providing more frequency-memory presets than there are
stations broadcasting.

The question arises, how to organize the station presets logically.
The AORs have variable bank size and several 3rd party applications
for organizing memories. Not sure I'd want to do it long-hand.

On Sat, 31 Mar 2007 20:44:09 GMT, David wrote in
:

The question arises, how to organize the station presets logically.

The AORs have variable bank size and several 3rd party applications
for organizing memories.

RxPlus receiver control software seems to support computer managed
presets for the Drake R8B:

http://www.cam.org/~noelbou/RxPlus/R...s.php#Drake_R8
The Mem Panel offer a simple interface to the R8 memories which
allow for easy recalling, storing erasing and naming of the R8B
memories .

However, that doesn't necessarily mean that you don't need a strategy
to logically organize the frequency presets.

Not sure I'd want to do it long-hand.

I know what you mean. Unfortunately the receiver control program that
I use, SWLog, doesn't support receiver memory manipulation. It
doesn't even support the Drake R8B's VHF tuning range. But it is
stable, unlike RsPlus, and SWLog does a lot of other things well.