[Elecraft] K2 - SSB filter alignment

[Ron D'Eau Claire]

Note Don's last sentence:=20
"BE AWARE - the FL1 BFO setting are used for transmit - you may have to
alter these setting to optimize the transmit signal for your particular
voice audio range."

I'm a strong advocate of listening to one's own signal on the air before
pronouncing it "good". Scopes and spectrographic displays are great for
showing WHY it sounds like it does - good or bad - but there's nothing =
like
actually hearing the sound of the rig for yourself. Just be careful to =
avoid
overloading the receiver you are using to listen on or you'll hear
unpleasant things that aren't really there. Also, it's good if you can =
use a
receiver with a very wide bandwidth, especially for SSB testing. =
Otherwise,
the SSB you are hearing has been "filtered" by the receiver as  well as =
the
K2, and so it might not sound to you like to sounds to others, depending
upon their rigs. You can't "fix" a lousy receiver filter by adjusting =
the
K2, but you can confirm that any receiving funnies (tinny sounds, bassy
audio, etc.) that someone may report are being generated in the other =
ops'
receiver and not your K2.

You can get an approximation of what your signal sounds like in SSB by
listening to it on the K2 itself. Put on the headphones, plug in the =
mic,
and in MENU, put SSBA in BAL mode. DO NOT press the PTT button. Just =
speak
into the mic and you'll hear your voice in the phones. As Gary has
cautioned, this is only an "approximation" of what you sound like on the =
air
but it will give you something of an idea if you have no auxiliary =
receiver
that you can use.=20

Different voices have different audio spectrums. Most of us are aware of
just how different most women's voices are from men's, but even among =
men or
women as a group the audio spectrum our voices produce vary. Adjusting =
the
position of the SSB filter (by tweaking the BFO frequency) allows you to
'tune in' your K2 to best match your voice. A shift of only 100 Hz can =
make
a significant difference in the "punch" and clarity of your signal. This =
is
especially true with the "stock" K2 SSB filters because they are fairly
narrow. Being narrow gives the signal the greatest "punch" but it also =
means
that the position of the filter bandpass is more critical than in rigs =
with
wider filters.=20

Ron AC7AC