[MRCA] Frequency Measurement test

[B. Smith]

    When making a measurement using the "zero beat' method you have to 
listen carefully at you get close to the exact frequency. You will hear 
a  definite repeating beat sometimes very low in frequency  and sounds 
like womp  womp  womp and if you count the number of womps  that will be 
the number cycles off of center.  :-)   As you get closer to zero beat 
the "womps" extend in length and you have less per time period.  Your 
target is zero "womps" .  Also you can use the "S" meter and watch its 
deflection as you get close - - then of course you can use a scope for 
some better precision. And old trick  when using a frequency counter was 
to amplify  WWV when it was on 5 or 10 Mcs to the point where you had 
enough signal and could inject it directly into the scope and compare it 
to your counter standard for a Lissajous pattern - - - - it took quite a 
bit of RF amplification  and you had to have a decent signal from WWV to 
start with but  the process was neat.
Z

On 11/3/2015 1:26 PM, Ray Fantini wrote:
>
> No matter how improbable it appears once again a picture and reference 
> to WW2 military technology and equipment has appeared in this month’s 
> issue of QST, a magazine almost entirely consumed with pushing the 
> modern Ham to spend all their money and time that is when not 
> supporting the league itself in buying the latest new radio widget.  
> In the announcement about the annual frequency measurement test there 
> is a little sub article and picture of the BC-221 with a write up on 
> how that was once the state of the art in frequency measurement. They 
> further challenge modern Hams to try using that old heterodyne 
> technology and enter their results along with a write up about it use. 
> So here it is, an opportunity for some of the “know it all’s” out 
> there to demonstrate their competence with the two twenty one in 
> comparison with the state of the art Hams who will just park the 
> cursor over the carrier on the display and write the number down from 
> off the screen. Myself I am not quite smart enough in such matters 
> being I will just take a signal source like a BC-221 and heterodyne it 
> against an unknown carrier and then use a frequency counter like my 
> old HP-5328 to read the frequency.
>
> Ray F/KA3EKH
>
>
>