[1000mp] ARRL Lab transmit IMD test-result reporting

[1000mp@mailman.qth.net]

Ed, W1RFI wrote:

"Reviews always pick up on a rig that is overly clicky or has marginal
IMD, for example.  I, too, offer my feedback to the Product Review editor
from time to time.  In response to some of the discussions between ARRL's
test engineer, Mike Tracy, and Tom Rauch, Mike has been putting actual
measurements of keying sidebands into the expanded reports. Mike reports
that most rigs he has tested are NOT excessively clicky. ---- As an aside
to that, some of the worst clickers had rise and fall times that were >1
millisecond. A careful look at the keying envelope shows that the worst
rigs often have some small portion of the envelope that has sudden
transistions -- an almost vertical section of the waveform envelope for
10% of the rise time, for example, that generates most of the noise. I
think that this is an area where the expanded test reports can continue
to make a positive contribution."
==========
I read the review on the FT-1000MP before I bought one.  Although the MP
is one of the "clickiest" rigs out there, the review did not say this --
it only presented the keying waveforms.  Icom rigs also have this problem
-- the IC-775DSP is very bad -- the 756/PRO is slightly better.  Most of
the Kenwoods seem to be ok.  These opinions of mine are based on
observations made by me during CW contests and knowing what rig the
operator on the other end is using.

With a lot of clicky CW signals occupying 5 kHz of the band (as the stock
MP does), this allows only 20 such rigs to operate in a 100 kHz band, and
even then weak signals are very difficult to copy amid the clicks.

I had to modify my MP to reduce the clicks (a la W8JI instructions) and
one of the prime things I will consider in my next purchase of a new rig
is how "clicky" is it?  At least then I won't have to modify the rig to
reduce clicks.

In your reviews as published in QST, please include a "click" figure
(i.e., n dB down at n Hz, or something like that).  Maybe that will
inspire the manufacturers to produce rigs without key clicks.

73, de Earl, K6SE (ARRL Life Member)