QTH.COM Swap Chat

There is getting to be several hams using studio type audio equipment on their rigs and it has cause a stir on the ham bands.
First, very few hams have or will spend the money to purchase this expensive equipment.
Second, it seems to be very hard to tune to and receive the ones using this new mode of transmittion .
Third, there has been some discussion as to whether or not it is legal

Well, I would not see why it is NOT legal. The transmit signal is limited by the transmit filters which set the bandwidth. Good Idea? Oh well...it is hard to tune in I agree. Why do they do it..? Why not. I don't nor do I have the desire to do so. If they want to cram Hi Fi into a 2.8Kc bandwidth, hey go for it. It is their signal that sounds horrible. It is another form of experimentation, which we as Amateurs, do so well..!

But, all in all, I have to agree it does, for the most part, sound pretty bad. For AM, that is a different story. A lot of people love good sounding audio and in the AM portion, if that is what they desire, so be it.

73

Bill, W0LPQ

W0LPQ wrote:Well, I would not see why it is NOT legal. The transmit signal is limited by the transmit filters which set the bandwidth.

Therein lies the rub...Quite a few of the HiFi guys are modifying the rigs to transmit thru wider filters, becoming excessively broad on ssb and I believe Riley has pointed this out to a few of them.

Jerry

I wanted to comment that some of the Guys using the equipment just do have some of the "Finest Audio" I have heard on HF Rigs. Then...there are a few that I have heard that have begun to increase use of Reverb, and or Echo, to FATTEN up that sound! There is where I cannot help but remember the ECHO Craze... on the CB Band! and I swear if I start hearing Roger Beeps I'll go into Digital communications Forever - Laughing Okay guys Hams Experiment and yes there are some stations that I do, admire that Studio Quality Sound, so I suppose that the answer also lies in when one knows where to stop and enough is enough. Besides if you have 100% Modulation (Perfect Set-Point) and the Tone you wish to acheive, then anything over 100% really is just Pure Greed and waste of Good Band width. And none of us wishes to be a "SPLATTER HOG" do we? Oh well dont forget...If you ain't been hit by Lightening you ain't high enough, and Life is too short for QRP, besides whomever Dies with the most radios...WINS! 73's Guys.

It's AMATEUR radio, not PROFESSIONAL radio (no matter how big the ego).

If you want to sound like Walter Cronkite while blabbering on about nothing for hours, go get a job at a commercial radio station! Save us all.

Blake N4GI

I have been running HI-FI audio for a number of months and Love it. Its a challenge to set it up just right. I enjoy listening to others running this type of sound. ITs easy on the ears and adds to my listening pleasure. I run it throught LEGAL means. Icom 756Pro 2.8Khz is my max filter. I DO NOT mod my rig nor can I mod my rig for wider bandwidth. I fill up my legal bandwidth perfectly. With a flip of a switch I can go to dx mode. Its wonderful. I also can record on air and reply. Also I can run a spectrum on others. Most hams are using only half the bandwidth allowed. Which is fine I dont have a complaint . But I like to rag chew and dont like to listen to raspy tin can audio. Thats my opinon. Now if you na sayers don't care for HI-FI audio you don't have to tune in. I think its just another aspect of expermentation in ham radio. Its different, like echolink and, building lasers for communications. They all have there place. If its not for you thats fine but don't be-little others for doing it. Its what you get out of the hobby thats most important for each individual.

Well, the guys that like the Hi Fi audio had better never get or talk to someone running Ten Tec gear as they would go nuts at the sound.

Ten Tec designs their gear to sound very high pitched. Why ? So it can be heard above and beyond the pile ups.

When the guys running the great audio just sound like a muffled roar in the crowd, the TT stands out and gets the contact.

I normally run Icom 756 PRO II's with Heil Goldlines but when the pileup gets bad, I fire up a Ten Tec Corsair or Paragon and get the station on the first call.

It works for me...

Here's an interesting article that I copied from The ARRL Letter, Vol 22, No 16, dated 4/17/2003:

"ENHANCED SSB" BANDWIDTHS "EXTREMELY INCONSIDERATE," FCC SAYS

The FCC has sent advisory notices to four enthusiasts of what's become
known as "enhanced SSB"--the practice of engineering transmitted
single-sideband audio to approach broadcast quality. Letters went out
earlier this month to amateurs in Illinois, Florida and New Jersey who are
aficionados of enhanced SSB, also known as "upper wideband" and "lower
wideband."

"The Commission has received numerous complaints regarding the operation
of your station," FCC Special Counsel Riley Hollingsworth wrote Paul
Christensen, W9AC, John Anning, NU9N, Anthony Latin, W4NSG, and Sareno
Salerno, W2ONV, on April 3. Hollingsworth said complaints to the FCC
alleged that the bandwidths of the stations' enhanced SSB emissions were
"wider than necessary and contrary to good engineering practice."

"Wideband overly-processed audio, especially when coupled with the high
intermodulation levels of certain amplifiers, results in the use of
bandwidths extremely inconsiderate of other operators," Hollingsworth
said. Such transmissions may violate FCC rules and may be at odds with
what Hollingsworth described as "the expectation that the Amateur Service
be largely self-regulated."

Occupying more bandwidth than necessary in a heavily used amateur band,
Hollingsworth wrote, not only could generate ill will among operators but
lead to petitions asking the FCC to establish bandwidth limits for amateur
emissions. At present, the FCC imposes no specific bandwidth limits on
various amateur modes.

Hollingsworth cited §97.307(a) of the Amateur Service rules that requires
the signal of an amateur station not occupy "more bandwidth than necessary
for the information rate and emission type being transmitted, in
accordance with good amateur practice." Some amateurs have complained that enhanced SSB signals can take up 8 kHz or more of spectrum, cause splatter and unnecessarily interfere with other stations.

"The Amateur Service is not a substitute for the Broadcast Service,"
Hollingsworth said, "and the frequencies allocated to the Amateur Service
were not allocated for a 'broadcast quality' audio emission or sound."
Hollingsworth suggested the enhanced SSBers operate when the bands are
less busy or on bands that are not heavily used.

The many complaints the FCC has been getting--20 or so per week--leads to
the conclusion that the stations' enhanced SSB operation is having "a
negative impact" on the Amateur Service, Hollingsworth said. He requested
that the four amateurs "fully review the rules" and make sure their
stations conform to them.
----------------------------------
Material from The ARRL Letter may be republished or reproduced in whole or
in part in any form without additional permission. Credit must be given to
The ARRL Letter and The American Radio Relay League.

There is nothing ilegal at all to experiment with "enhanced SSB audio" IF the bandwith is been kept within 3Khz,If some guys will not like it,sorry for them,but for me its very pleaseant to hear melodious sounds in the band,on the other hand I think it should be good ham practice not to use so wide audio banwith as I have seen and checked with my spectrum analyzer of some stations having between 4 to 5 Khz bandwith,a good audio still melodious can be achieved without spending big bucks in commercial stuff like Behringer equipment just using a good mic like the new Heil Golden Pro I do have and a good radio as the 756Pro2 or TS-870 or the 1000MP-MK5 but the secret is to maintain the transmitted audio between 100 and 3000Hz,in my own experience the stations who really sound horible are those that goes to lower than 50 hertz,even having a wide receiver as my TS-870 is hard to understand them,my point of view is we have to deal with these guys and let them experiment so far it don't risk the band.I am definitively an "enhanced ssb audio" fan,I use it in the best way possible without disturb anyone and I always 100% of the time receive compliments of my audio when spending time in ragchewing.Thanks to all who read my comments and God bless you all and America.

Almost a decade later...

- Riley Hollingsworth is no longer with the FCC;
- The FCC no longer considers the use of ESSB as contrary to "good operating practice" when used with consideration toward others and no longer issues ESSB Advisory Notices;
- Several equipment manufacturers, including Elecraft and Ten Tec now promote ESSB as a product feature [with footnotes of caution];
- The FCC has denied the ARRL's petition to codify bandwidth as well as a seperate bandwidth-limiting Petition for Rulemaking;
- A formal FOIA request revealed that "20 complaints per week" were in fact a total of exactly four (4) at the time the Advisory Notices were issued;
- As part of my FOIA request, the FCC failed to redact the name and callsign of the one and single complaint against me, and that person's complaint was based on his understanding that I authored ESSB receiver modifications -- and was not based on transmitted interference;
- That complaint came at a time when I was off the air for more than six months - again the original complaint was about my authorship and not transmitted emissions and yet authorship evoked an Advisory Notice from the FCC.

A decade later, I am still drafting equipment designs and modifications for friends while I continue to enjoy CW.

Paul, W9AC