[1000mp] Real S9

[Pete Smith]

I just finished building the Elecraft XG-1 signal generator.

So why am I talking about it here?  Because It puts out a calibrated 50 uv 
on 7040.  After I built it, the first radio I hooked it to was my 
TS-930.  S9 right on the button.  Then I connected it to my Mark 5.  S6!

I had thought for a long time that the Mk 5 sounded "dead" compared with 
the 930, but put it down to DSP, etc.
Not long after I got the MK5, I put in the Inrad IF mod, and then a couple 
of years later I substituted the roofing filter.  The radio also has 
cascaded 400 Hz Inrad CW filters.  In the course of doing all that, I guess 
I had turned the IF gain down too far - anyway, using the XG-1, I was able 
to reset it to ~S9 at 50 uV - certainly sounds like the band is more open!

I expect the VG-1 is going to prove very useful, anytime I want to check 
the performance of my antenna switching or bandpass filtering - and for 
$40, I can't imagine a cheaper way to do that.