[CW] Sidetone frequency versus transmit frequency

[Ken Brown]

Hi all,

     I visited the local radio club's field day setup this weekend. I 
sat down at one of the stations they had set up. No one was operating, 
so I thought I'd make a few QSOs. I was having difficulty getting any 
response when I answered CQs. No doubt this was largely due to my 
location, Hawaii. I also suspected that being unfamiliar with the 
transceiver, I may have been transmitting a few hundred Hertz away from 
zero beat with the CQing stations I was calling.
     The owner of the rig was there so I asked him how does the side 
tone note relate to my actual transmit frequency. He said that my 
transmit frequency was exactly as displayed by the digital readout. I 
said that I was not concerned about the numbers on the display, provided 
I was well within the band limits, but rather was trying to understand 
how to zero beat my transmitted signal with the signal of the other 
station that I was calling. He repeated that whatever the receive 
frequency is, the transmit frequency will be, as long as the clarifier 
was not on. I tried to allude to the possibility that even with the 
narrow filter (which he said was 500 Hz) I could be receiving several 
signals with various audio notes, and the transmitter can not be zero 
beat to all of them. (If this rig had one of those automatic zero 
beating functions, there was no indication that it was turned on, and it 
was never mentioned by the owner.) I asked what the received signal 
audio note had to be in order for the transmitted signal to be on the 
same frequency as the signal I was listening to. He apparently never 
understood what I was asking. I gave up and continued to try to make QSOs.
     I have had similar conversations with other hams, some who are 
experienced CW operators, and I have had similar failures to reach an 
understanding of the question I am asking. I wonder if any of you can 
suggest how you would ask the question in a way that would be more 
readily understood?

Thanks,

Ken N6KB