[Elecraft] W2IHY 8 band equalizer and EQ Plus

[Jim Brown]

On Mon, 26 Apr 2010 16:18:01 +0000, Lance Collister wrote:

> It very effectively cuts out the background blower noise

Some of the major causes of audible background noise are 1) working too 
far from the mic; 2) running the mic gain too high; 3) using too much 
compression/processing; and 4) not rolling off the low frequencies. 

In a noisy environment, it always helps to work close to the mic. It is 
ALWAYS good practice to use the minimum mic gain needed to get good 
modulation, use no more than about 10dB of compression/processing, and 
roll off the low frequency content. It's good engineering practice for the 
highest quality broadcast stations, and it's good practice for ham radio. 

Indeed, the only difference between what's right for broadcasting and for 
ham radio is WHERE to cut the low end and HOW MUCH money to spend on 
compression/processing. Many years ago, I sold processing systems for 
broadcast stations that cost upwards of $10K in today's dollars, and I 
helped the chief engineers of those stations adjust them. I suspect that 
W8JI and K4TAX have similar experience. Before I spent ANY money on an 
outboard box for a ham rig, I would first follow all of those elements of 
good engineering practice.  

73,

Jim Brown K9YC