[ARC5] BC-453 too drifty for WSPR?

[Bill Cromwell]

Hi,

I have seen some drift with mine too and it was related to the AC 
operated power supplies. When the power line sagged a little the 
waterfall would shift (and I could also *hear* it change). Using good 
regulation on the plate supply and regulated DC on the heater strings 
makes a big difference. I have used B+ as low as 45 volts with excellent 
results. I presently run my command receivers from batteries on both the 
heater strings and the B+. I use rechargeable lead-acid batteries for 
~24 VDC on the heaters and a series stack of 9 volt transistor batteries 
on the B+ for 90 volts. The 9-volt batteries out last a recharge on the 
7A-H SLA batteries by a factor of 8 to 10 times.

At ~90 volts the B+ current is around 15 mA and at ~45 volts it drops to 
around 7 or 8 mA. At 45 Volts the audio volume is noticeably reduced in 
the cans but still very usable. The 9-volt batteries will last twice as 
long at 45 volts. The radio will run cooler (more stable) on either. 
Using batteries further isolates the receivers from that gadawfle power 
line crud. They also work when the electric utilities are down in my 
third world state.

73,

Bill  KU8H

On 01/25/2016 11:15 AM, Kenneth G. Gordon wrote:
> On 24 Jan 2016 at 23:30, J Mcvey via ARC5 wrote:
>
>> I decided to tidy up my line voltage transformer speaker inter and put in a nice
>> bud box with jacks for I/O. Since I was going that far, I decided to include an
>> adjustable low level out to plug into the computer and WSJT-X. It didn't work.
>> The waterfalls had a slight tilt to them. It's a shame, because I think it hears
>> pretty well.
> Hmmm...well, I find that a bit odd: I've used a BC-453 with Spectran software
> for years and never had that problem.
>
> If drift is a problem for your setup, regulating the filament voltage makes a
> big difference as long as your HV is stable.
>
> Also, HV need not be more than about 180 VDC. I use a VR-105 and a
> VR-75 in series.
>
> Ken W7EKB
>
>
>
>
> Kenneth G. Gordon W7EKB
>
> "Courage is being scared to death but saddling up anyway."--- John   Wayne
>
>