[Elecraft] K2 SSB adjustment

[Don Wilhelm]

Mike,

As has been stated earlier on the reflector, 80 or 40 meter LSB should 
sound the same as 10 meter USB - there is a sideband swap due to the VCO 
injection frequency at 15 meters and above.  You could be having some RF 
feedback problems on 10 meters, or it could just be a matter of more 
precise filter alignment is needed.

While setting the SSB filters like the KSB2 manual indicates is a good 
starting point, you can do much better by using Spectrogram.  Align the 
lower frequency corner of the passband at 300 Hz for best results - if 
you have the stock 2.4 kHz filter width, set Spectrogram markers at 300 
and 2600 and center the passband between those points.

If you are not familiar with Spectrogram for aligning the K2 filters, 
take a look at the information on the Elecraft website builder's 
resource page, or Tom Hammond's website www.n0ss.net or at my website 
www.qsl.net/w3fpr - look at Part 3 of the article on K2 Dial Calibration.

73,
Don W3FPR

Mike Geddes wrote:
> The audio quality on my K2 was pretty bad on SSB, transmit and 
> receive. I followed the SSB manual advice and adjusted BFO1 using Cal 
> Fil on upper and lower sideband (on 80 meters) until I got it sounding 
> pretty good. Not perfect. But pretty decent. I then tried to transmit 
> on 10 meters upper, and the SSB quality was terrible.  Like it, too, 
> needed adjustment. I was under the impression that doing this once on 
> any HF band would work for all. Is this not true? Any suggestions for 
> getting the SSB sounding good on this fine rig? (FYI, I was 
> transmitting for testing of audio quality and feedback on my initial 
> adjustments, and had nearby ham helping me listen and offer 
> suggestions. My rig is wired for Kenwood mikes, and I was using the 
> MC-43 and a Heil Pr-20 for testing.) Any thoughts and suggestions are 
> appreciated. I want to get the SSB transmit and receive sounding as 
> good as possible.
>