[Elecraft] SS "Strangenss"

[Kurt Pawlikowski]

Hi,

    First, FYI: this is cross-posted to the Elecraft reflector and the 
SKCC group.

    I "played" on the SS the weekend. Attained 63 contacts QRP (KX-1). I 
was mostly giving out points as I probably won't submit my log... But, 
anyway...

    While attempting to respond to a station, I was using a spectrum 
program so I knew I was on the calling stations frequency (in this case, 
I believe the KX-1 uses a 600 Hz offset - I've tested it with another 
radio and it seems correct). So, here's the "strange" part: If I zero 
beat the calling station, there was about a 1 in 10 chance they'd hear 
me! If, on-the-other-paw, I tuned to about 450 or 500 Hz, they seemed to 
hear me okay! And this included stations who were answering on their 
exact frequency! I first noted this when calling one station, but heard 
my call at about a 100 Hz tone (which meant my sig was 500 Hz below 
him). I thought, "Huh?" Well, it works out well, because the bandwidth 
filters seem centered on about 450 Hz when at it's narrowest, but the 
question is, why was this? I mean I fully expected stations to be 
listening on their own frequency first, then offsets. Or, am I missing 
something? {'-)

    Regards,

    kurtt

    Kurt Pawlikowski, AKA WB9FMC
    The Pinrod Corporation
    kurtt at pinrod.com
    (773) 284-9500
    http://pinrod.com