[Elecraft] A comment about Receiving

[Robert Harmon]

Rich,

Yes the tuner acts as a preselector and peaks up the signal. 
 
Years ago I wrote W6AM a letter asking him if he used an antenna tuner
with his rhombic antennas.  He replied that he did use a tuner but not so much
to improve the impedance match to the rhombics for transmit, (he had them tuned up pretty well)
but to act as a preselector to peak up the signals.  He went on to describe his 
setup, using Collins 75A4 receivers and a Johnson KW matchboxes.  He said the
big Johnson KW matchbox, not the smaller one, was very effective at peaking up the 
received signal.  I was convinced that the tuner was a a good thing to have in line 
for receive if he had receive enhancement using the tuner with his big rhombics !


Bob
K6UJ


 
On Mar 28, 2011, at 11:05 AM, Richard Fjeld wrote:

> For me, receive capability was an important factor, among others, in the decision to buy an Elecraft. The model is irrelevant to this post. For years, I have been studying comments made about receiving, as opposed to those who think a radio is 'good to the last watt'. Recently, there was a rather lengthy thread about whether a K3 user was having receive problems or not.  I'd like to share an experience with the group.
> 
> Over the years, I have used coax fed antennas and lived with compromise SWR figures. I wanted an all-band antenna so I recently changed the 80 meter dipole so that it is center fed with homebrew 450 ohm ladder-line to a tuner. I use an MFJ Matchmaker (TM) to 'tune the tuner'.  While it puts out a white noise, I tune for minimum S-meter reading. When finished, a quick transmit reveals the SWR. 
> 
> One day while tuning close to optimum at the frequency I was on, and because I receive while I tune, I began to hear a weak CW signal. At first, I thought it had just come on frequency, but as I listened, I realized that the station had been in qso for awhile, but I didn't hear it until I reached optimum resonance with the tuner. I knew a resonant antenna was important, but I was surprised at the difference it could make in receiving. A good receiver is wasted if the signal doesn't get to it. 
> 
> 
> Richard Fjeld, n0ce
> rpfjeld at embarqmail.com
> I'd rather be learning.
> 
> 
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