[CW] Sidetone frequency versus transmit frequency

[Ron Youvan]

Ken Brown wrote:
> 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?

   No you asked the right questions, the only way to know is if the radio has a "zero" 
button that beeps when you press it to indicate which frequency produces the right tone to 
match the senders tone/frequency.
The real problem is a good FD operator never uses any narrow filter, making it more 
fatiguing, and that may have been your problem, a good and experienced in FD operations 
operator listens for any frequency of tone that sends his station's call and knows he is 
being heard and without retuning, replys even if they are 1,200 Hertz apart.  This alone 
is what makes FD a fast exercise.
Every time you called CQ someone could have answered you from 1 kHz away and you never 
heard them.  GL next year, FD is the best!  73
-- 
    Ron  KA4INM - I'm proud to be Chuck's pop!