[Lowfer] ok I give up

Mark mbdittmar at comcast.net
Mon Dec 31 13:09:50 EST 2012 

Mike,

It took me a while to figure out a calibration scheme that worked.  I use a 
converter ahead of my Icom and the converter's crystal introduces additional 
offsets which were confounding me.  Here is what I do:

1) let everything warm up a few hours
2) Tune the receiver to 59 khz USB to receive WWVB in Ft. Collins.  They are 
super strong here in Denver so its a convenient frequency reference for me.
3) In the ARGO calibration menu Set offset to 0 and the other two both to 
1000 hertz.  You won't change these numbers.
4) Measure the frequency from WWVB as accurately as you can from the ARGO 
screen.  Usually NDB mode is good enough, but for more accuracy you can do 
it in QRS3 or QRS10.  With my setup I measure 553 hertz tone.
5) Lets say you want to receive the 2200 meter watering hole.  Set your 
receiver dial to 137 khz USB.
6) 1000 hz away from 137 khz is 138 khz, 138000 hz.  Subtract 553 hertz from 
this number to get 137447 hertz.  Put this number in the offset in the 
calibration menu.  The other two numbers keep at 1000 hz.
7) Now you are setup !  I usually just set AGC on in ARGO and leave 
sensitivity and contrast both at 50%.  I disable AGC in my receiver.  I 
adjust audio input level in ARGO to about 50% or so of full scale ( scale is 
on extreme left hand side of screen ).  Move sliders on right hand side of 
screen to set your frequency range.  Set mode to whatever ( QRS 30, etc. )
8) This works for me everytime and is pretty simple method. Of course, your 
mileage may vary.

73 and good luck
Mark AB0CW , MBD





----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Stan, W1LE" <stanw1le at verizon.net>
To: "Discussion of the Lowfer (US, European, &amp; UK) and MedFer bands" 
<lowfer at mailman.qth.net>
Sent: Monday, December 31, 2012 10:11 AM
Subject: Re: [Lowfer] ok I give up


> Hello Mike,
>
> To calibrate I first had to figure out the BFO offset in the CW mode.
>
> For my IC-703+ I have a 800Hz BFO (offset) and I had to use CW/R (reverse)
> to get all to track correctly.
>
> Other transceivers have different BFO offsets, my FT1000MO uses 600 Hz.
> Most modern transceivers allow a menu to change to the BFO offset.
>
> So, if I externally inject a clean tone into the RX at 137.800 KHz and 
> tune the RX to 137.800KHz,
>  I will hear it in ARGO at 800 Hz,+/- my calibration which is a couple of 
> Hz.
> I then calibrate ARGO to get exactly 800.00 Hz displayed.
>
> A standard feature of the IC-703+ is the high stability xtal reference,
> so my drift in time is negligible.
> Other transceivers may need their high stability reference option 
> installed.
>
> Stan, W1LE   Cape Cod   FN41sr
>
>
>
> On 12/31/2012 11:55 AM, Mike Sanders wrote:
>> Hi Cliff, In ARGO V1 build 142 in the setup drop down the first selection
>> is   Select Sound Card. When I click on that it shows all of the sound 
>> cards
>> on the computer available. I select the one that is hooked up to the rig
>> (actually RigBlaster DUO) and go from there. GL es 73, Mike
>>
>> PS I still do not have ARGO working yet. Audio is good but calibration
>> has whipped me for three weeks now. 8>)
>>
>> Happy New Year
>> Mike Sanders
>>        K0AZ
>>
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: lowfer-bounces at mailman.qth.net 
>> [mailto:lowfer-bounces at mailman.qth.net]
>> On Behalf Of Stan, W1LE
>> Sent: Monday, December 31, 2012 10:45 AM
>> To: Discussion of the Lowfer (US, European, &amp; UK) and MedFer bands
>> Subject: Re: [Lowfer] ok I give up
>>
>> Hello Cliff,
>>
>> ARGO works for me.
>>
>> 1. What version of ARGO are you using ?
>> www. weaksignals.com    may have a newer version.
>>
>> 2. Are all of your sound cards successfully installed with drivers for 
>> your
>> OS ?
>>
>> I am currently using WIN7 64 bit with ARGO and a ESI-MAYA44-XTE PCIe
>> soundcard.
>>
>> Stan, W1LE    Cape Cod   FN41sr
>>
>>
>>
>> On 12/31/2012 1:09 AM, Cliff Sojourner wrote:
>>> OK - I give up - my shack PC has 3 sound cards.  how can I get ARGO
>>> (Argovation!) to use one of the three instead of the mic port?!?!?
>>>
>>> I hit the menu Setup -> select input -> choose real time input but it
>>> doesn't change anything.
>>>
>>> is there a better program that actually works?
>>>
>>> thanks
>>> Cliff  K6CLS   CM87
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