[Elecraft] Gurus

[Bob McGraw]

Lets get a few facts straight.

An amateur operator designated by the licensee of a station is to 
be responsible for the operation of that station. Refer to §2.201 of the 
FCC Rules, Emission, modulation and transmission . It is the ham that 
holds the station license and the designated operator of that station 
that is responsible for all emissions from that station.  This is 
regardless of the brand or model of equipment being used.

Reading the manual and operating the equipment as specified by the 
manufacture is absolutely mandatory for any good operator. Using 
excessive levels or power is not a good candidate for a good operator 
and thus leads to signal degradation.

The FCC no longer evaluates or test ham radio equipment.   Each 
manufacturer submits the required documentation to the FCC for 
approval.  In doing so they are attesting that the brand / model does 
meet the FCC requirements.   {I have observed an instance where approval 
was granted but independent measurements confirm the particular brand / 
model did not meet the requirements.   In a different occasion, the 
company / person performing the tests said "oh, that's good enough" when 
indeed the equipment did not make the required measurement values.}

Splatter is just that, splatter.  It is not a harmonic. "A harmonic is a 
wave with a frequency that is a positive integer multiple of the 
frequency of the original wave, known as the fundamental frequency. The 
original wave is also called the 1st harmonic, the 
following harmonics are known as higher harmonics."   Thus if one 
transmits a CW signal then the 2nd harmonic is 2x the fundamental 
frequency.  Thus 3.562 MHz has a 2nd harmonic at 7.124 MHz.    Or if one 
transmits an FT-8 signal at 735 Hz then the 2nd harmonic is 1470 Hz.

Hams do make mistakes and can often mis-adjust their radios, 
deliberately, unintentionally, or unknowingly.  Advising one in a 
friendly and informative means is just good practice.   I don't care how 
expensive or how advanced ones station might be, operated incorrectly it 
can and will cause spectral issues.   Unfortunately many new hams aren't 
really technical and may not understand how and why certain things 
occur.  They have to be educated in proper station set-up and 
operation.   It is up to the more experienced and more knowledgeable 
hams to provide this service.

Don't be mislead by what I describe as "old ham lore".   Just because 
someone said bla bla bla doesn't make it correct.  One must always check 
and verify to their own level of satisfaction or seek the advice of 
others.   Or perhaps, just read the manual. The acronym for that is RTFM.

73

Bob, K4TAX


On 6/10/2021 11:22 AM, elecraft-request at mailman.qth.net wrote:
> Message: 1
> Date: Thu, 10 Jun 2021 04:22:25 +0000
> From: Bill Johnson<k9yeq at live.com>
> To: Dave<dave at nk7z.net>,"elecraft at mailman.qth.net"
> 	<elecraft at mailman.qth.net>
> Subject: Re: [Elecraft] Gurus
> Message-ID:
> 	<DM6PR08MB5001625AC1E99117EB2E0CB09C359 at DM6PR08MB5001.namprd08.prod.outlook.com>
> 	
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8"
>
> I would add, the radio operator with a license is supposed to know the requirements and operate accordingly.  This includes staying with the passband of the FCC regulations.  Just because a radio is FCC accepted, doesn't mean the operator doesn?t have responsibility to stay within the regulations.  Thus if I note you are splattering because of too much mic gain, or whatever, doesn't excuse the person from adjusting the signal or correcting the situation, regardless of the manufacturer.  It is the HAM's station creating the issue that is legally needing to correct it.  Don't be offended, fix it.  I have had issues with my own Elecraft radio with a circuit failure... what did I do? I fixed it.
>
> Bill
> K9YEQ