[Elecraft] CW for those with Poor Hearing

[Fred Jensen]

Jim has helped me in a number of ways, both RXEQ and getting good TX 
audio from my K3.

I'm pretty much deaf above 1200 Hz, lots of sudden, very loud noises in 
my bulletproof and immortal period 50 years ago.  Jim's RXEQ suggestion 
gave me about 30 dB of higher frequency boost ... turn down the lows, 
raise the highs, and turn up the AF Gain.  I generally run mine around 
12 o'clock, much above that and distortion gets really bad.  I don't 
know if that's in my headset [Heil ProSet from Elecraft], or clipping in 
the audio amp.  30 dB is only about a third of my hearing loss above 
1200 Hz, but it does still make a BIG difference.

I found my "sweet spot" for pitch just by experimentation with the pitch 
control.  On sideband ... which you won't find me on much, very hard 
copy ... at DSP BW around 2.1 or a little less, I shift it down.  For 
RTTY, I use the 915 Hz setting in the K3 and MMTTY.

Many years ago, while a high school senior with a part-time relief op 
job at a coastal marine station, the OT's taught me that when the noise 
on the Holy Frequency was really bad, lay the cans on the desk. 
Somehow, this lowers the noise and not the signal.  The VA has given me 
some very good hearing aids, they don'w work under the headphones, but 
using them with the headphones on the desk does often improve the SNR of 
very weak signals.

Good luck,

73,

Fred K6DGW
- Northern California Contest Club
- CU in the 50th Running of the Cal QSO Party 3-4 Oct 2015
- www.cqp.org

On 2/5/2015 5:36 PM, Jim Brown wrote:
> On Thu,2/5/2015 4:45 PM, Don Wilhelm wrote:
>> Your real answer depends on your particular hearing loss, so no one
>> else can say what your particular "desired pitch" can be.
>
> Yes. There are several types of hearing loss. That which comes with old
> age is a loss of high frequencies; what you appear to have is likely the
> result of excessive noise exposure, and can be anything from a big
> "hole" in the middle of frequency response to massive loss of highs to
> ringing.
>
> If your loss is mostly highs, it can be PARTIALLY compensated using
> RXEQ. Simply turn down the lower bands and turn up the higher ones. If
> it's the ringing that drives you nuts, try setting the CW RX pitch
> lower. Play with it and see what works for you. You can also do these
> things in combination.