[Elecraft] Why noise generator?

Tom Hammond NØSS [email protected]
Mon Jan 21 14:22:10 2002


Alan:

>Why do I need a noise generator when aligning the filters with
>Spectrogram?  What is wrong with background noise, if that is not
>enough, add a piece of wire as an antenna.  What is the difference?

In many instances, band is more than adequate!

When I came up with the noise source, I was experiencing problems finding a 
band which offered ample noise without the precense of other signals. 
Sometimes I'd find a band where there were no signals, but generally the 
noise level was pretty far down and I'd have to crank up the AF gain to the 
point that I'd start getting 'peaks' from other sources and artifacts from 
the AF section of the rig (I think).

The noise source was designed to provide a high-level noise source which 
would allow me to use only moderate AF Gain and NO EXTERNA ANTENNA INPUT at 
all.

If you find band noise acceptable, than by all means USE IT! ALignment with 
Spectrogram, or whatever you choose should proceed smoothly.

Tom Hammond   N0SS