[1000mp] FT-1000MP back ground hiss. CW Cap Mod--LONG!

[Garry Shapiro]

Earl and all:

Responses are in the body of the message.


> Hi, Gary,
>
> You wrote:
>
> "The most annoying thing to me now is the occasional loss of RX gain I
> experience when transitioning from TX to RX. I first noticed it when
> using my radio at 3B9R. It was most noticeable on CW, due to the higher
> number of RX/TX/RX transitions. In every case, the next cycle restores
> normality, but the problem recurs after anywhere from 10 to 100 or more
> cycles, more or less. In other words, it is intermittent. It may also
> occur after bandchanges. This can be pretty distracting in a tough
> pileup."
> ----------
> I had the same problem intermittently and assumed it was a dirty relay
> contact.  Resending a dit or hitting the A/B antenna switch would restore
> RX gain.  Apparently it cured itself, because I haven't had it happen for
> a couple of years now.
> ==========

The little DIP relays are sealed, so it is more likely the contacts are
eroded, misaligned or otherwise dysfunctional. Several relays were among
those parts replaced by Yaesu. The recurrence of the problem may simply be
due to defective relays, but I cannot know for sure---and they apparently
don't know, either.

>
> "The third irritant was the clarifier frequency jumps. They only occur
> when the clarifier knob is turned at moderate to fast rate. That problem
> is apparently common and well-known, and has been recently discussed at
> length here. So I tend not to use the clarifier."
> ----------
> >From previous posts on this reflector, apparently the control gets dirty
> or wears out and causes the problem.  I've never experienced this
> problem,  but I find it much more convenient during contest runs to
> transmit on VFO-B and tune for callers on VFO-A so I don't use the
> clarifier very often.  I have the menu set for the slowest VFO tuning
> rate (0.625 kHz per turn), which makes using VFO-A as the "clarifier"
> nice.  If I want to tune faster, I just hit the FAST button or use the
> shuttle jog feature.
> ==========

I agree that the clarifier is not essential, and I normally use the Dual
Receive function, especially if the DX is split. But, if the DX is not
split, and especially on CW, the only way to get his attention may be to
call a bit high or low. Dual mode will ceratinly do it, but TX Clarifier
will do it more easily. The fact of the clarifier knob rotation rate being
associated with the symptom may indicate that the circuit response is
faulty, not the input device itself.

>
> " The fourth irritant was optoencoder noise from the B VFO knob, which
> appears in my headphones. It's not loud, and is only noticeable on a very
> quiet band. It's probably due to lead placement. But the Yaesu tech could
> not reproduce it, even though it is NOT intermittent, but reproducible at
> will.  Thank Marconi it is at very low level, and generally inaudible at
> my noise levels, so I have mentally tuned it out."
> ----------
> I remember your previous posts about this problem.  It might be unique to
> your radio because I don't recall anyone else complaining about it.  When
> you posted this problem, I even carefully listened for it on my MP but I
> couldn't hear it.
> ==========

It may well be unique, and it is not a showstopper. I did move cables around
internally, with no differences noted.
>
> "Number five is key clicks. It is down the list because, for quite a
> while, I was blissfully unaware that I had them. Now, of course, I know
> that we (MP owners) all have clicks, and I can even pretty much tell,
> especially on 160, who in the pileup is a Yaesu owner, and vice versa. It
> annoys me that I will have to take the radio apart and rewire the filters
> to cure it, mostly because my eyesight is failing, and working on small
> components has become damned near impossible for me. But I plan to do it
> this summer, probably with some help from friends."
> ----------
> Because noone ever complained, I also was blissfully unaware of the key
> click problem until W8JI's posts.  Looking into it, sure enough, my MP's
> CW TX bandwidth was 5 kHz!  I did the INRAD "keying improvement" mod
> which reduced it to about 1.5 kHz.  Subsequently I did the W8JI key click
> mod which reduced it to about 0.5 kHz.
>
> Some individuals have e-mailed me stating that their MP does not have
> clicks.  They remain "blissfully unaware".  A couple of others have said
> they have asked their friends to monitor their MP's signal for clicks and
> their friends have told them they are clean.  I assume that the friends
> were either tuning 10 or 15 kHz off frequency or were using wide SSB
> filters on CW where the clicks would go unnoticed.  These owners also
> remain blissfully unaware.
>
> Yes, you can definitely tell who is an MP owner on CW (unless they've
> done the mod).  Icoms also have the problem to a lesser extent (except
> the IC-775 which is as bad as the MP), and Kenwoods seem to be quite
> clean on CW.
>
> Regarding rewiring the MP's filters to reduce the click problem, W8JI was
> going to look into that possible mod but I haven't heard anything further
> from him about it.  Do you have some advance info about it you would like
> to share?
> ==========

No....I thought wiring in the CW filter in the TX chain instead of the wide
SSB filter WAS the W8JI modification that you performed. Perhaps I did not
read those posts carefully enough.
>
> "The sixth irritant is that, occasionally, the DSP goes nuts. It seems to
> occur most readily with the outer DSP knob--the noise contour---full CW.
> The radio must be power-cycled to get rid of it. Ditto a motorboating
> lockup that occurs occasionally when turning the MEM/VFO knob--it must
> not be completely debounced. I guess that is number seven."
> ----------
> Others have reported the DSP problem, but I don't recall reading about
> the MEM/VFO knob problem before.  Anyway, I've had neither of these
> happen to me.
> ==========
>
> "OTOH, although my display is somewhat dim upon intitial power-up, it is
> not as dramatic as some have described, and it does not bother me. I
> guess I am lucky with that one."
> ----------
> I have that problem also, but I have come to ignore it.  I assume it
> takes a minute or so for the display to warm up to full brightness.  I
> have the menu item for display brightness set to "low", so this may
> enhance the "problem".  When the radio is cold, it sometimes takes a
> couple of seconds for the display to come on, but I've grown used to that
> also.  Apparently this is a very common problem, which Yaesu refuses to
> acknowledge.
> ==========
>
> "As for the keyer, it may well screw up. I don't know, because I don't
> use it. I don't use it because, as a contester, I key both from a paddle
> and a computer, and, in the MP, one can only do that by paralleling the
> two keying sources, and that means bypassing the keyer. (Yes, I know I
> can send manually from the keyboard, but I prefer my paddle.) It would
> have been easy to avoid or fix that problem by combining the two key
> jacks on the output side of the keyer. But that was not done. That's
> number 8."
> ----------
> I noticed the same lack of versatility when having both a paddle and
> computer both connected to send CW.  I now have the paddle wired to the
> computer so that the paddle tells the computer to generate the dits and
> dahs.  That's for contest operation -- for non-contest operation I don't
> use the computer and connect my paddle directly to the MP.  No extra
> dits, and no problem programming the MP's memory keyer as long as I set
> the menu to "iambic 2" while programming.

I use a LogicKey K-1, and a wye to combine the computer and keyer, and
bypass the internal keyer.
>
> At the DX convention in Visalia last weekend, I bought the Elecraft K2
> transceiver kit.  I read somewhere (possibly the ARRL review) that you
> can key the K2 with a paddle and computer both at the same time, just by
> paralleling the paddle with the computer key output to the K2's single
> key jack.  My eyes, like yours, are not as good as they used to be, so
> putting the kit together is a slow process because of the tiny components
> and close soldering required.  I'm anxious to compare it's receiver to
> the MP,  which many have said is superior in IMD and BDR.  No clicks from
> the TX, either, because it's CW waveform is supposed to be 4 ms rise time
> and 4 ms falltime.  I hope to use the K2 on my 160m contest expeditions
> to the salt lake bed (Elecraft will have their K2 built-in 100W amplifier
> available in a couple of weeks, they said).

Elecraft has done a nice job to break into a tough market with a unique
product. But I think my kitbuilding days are past. Not only are my eyes not
as good as they were, they were never any damned good to start with! It's
one of the reasons I have essentially abandoned my other
obsession---flyfishing for trout. Thirty years ago, I could tie #28 jassids
and midges; now I cannot even find them in the flybox.
> ==========
>
> "Similarly, W8JI's revelation about the noise blanker needing not only to
> be OFF but full CCW to avoid distortion from strong signals nearby is
> just amazing. That's number 9."
> ----------
> That's a W2VJN (INRAD) revelation which W8JI confirmed, I believe.  I've
> listened on busy, crowded bands during CW contests while playing with the
> NB control (while the NB is off), but I haven't been able to hear any
> "funnies", even with the NB control fully CW.  At any rate I leave the
> control fully CCW now when not using the NB.
> ==========
>
> "I also know that mistakes can be corrected, and that Yaesu has not
> corrected any of these problems,  despite the graying of the radio.
> Worse, it has allowed them to propagate into the Mk V. I understand the
> economic reasons for that, but there is no moral justification for it.
> Especially the damned key clicks."
> ----------
> It's a shame that Yaesu has turned a deaf ear to the problems documented
> by MP owners on this reflector.  They'll pay for it in the end, I
> believe, especially when the Ten-Tec Orion becomes available.  Meanwhile,
> the MP remains the best contest radio receiver available (but NOT the key
> click-unmodifed transmitter), despite it's problems.
>
> 73 , de Earl, K6SE

Tnx for your comments, Earl.