[R-390] Tuning SSB

[Bob Camp]

Hi

A BFO is not typically set up to provide great audio. A “product detector” is optimized for lower audio distortion. Yes, there are other differences, but they get into the “how did they do it” side of things. 

The R390 came out before SSB was “a thing to use”. Even the 390A was right at the start of SSB being something the military was looking at. Move a few years down the road and the designs did have a “can do SSB” check box on the design requirements. 

Bob

> On Sep 29, 2024, at 4:50 PM, Ing. Giovanni Becattini via R-390 <r-390 at mailman.qth.net> wrote:
> 
> Hi,
> I don’t answer …because I “know", but just because I find the theme intriguing and have similar doubts. This is a picture from the 51J-4 manual, which I think should be good also for the R-390A:
> <Screenshot 2024-09-29 alle 22.11.58.png>
> Because we must rebuild something similar to an AM signal but with just one side band, I believe we must keep the BFO 1.5 kHz above the center frequency of the filter for LSB and below for USB. And, obviously, we need to “move” the received signal (upper or lower band) to stay centered on the filter using the VFO.
> 
> In other words: tune the VFO so that the band (upper or lower) is centered on the filter, and move the BFO +1.5 kHz above if the band we want to read is the lower, and vice versa.
> <What is SSB: Single Sideband Mo dulation » Electronics Notes.png>
> 
> This interpretation seems to be confirmed by the manual itself:
> <Screenshot 2024-09-29 alle 22.21.53.png>
> 
> And this should be true also for SSB. In addition, it lets me think that with the 6 kHz filter, the dial reading does correspond to the carrier frequency of station.
> 
> All that assumes that the filter is centered on the IF channel, even if not specified by the 51J-4 manual (left), but specified by the R-390A manual (right)) and however rather obvious
> <Immagineallegata-1.png><Immagineallegata-2.png>
> 
> I am not sure that I am not saying something wrong, so I hope that some true expert can help us to clarify the things….
> 
> Gianni
> 
> 
> 
> 
>> Il giorno 29 set 2024, alle ore 19:29, Barry Scott <72volkswagon at gmail.com> ha scritto:
>> 
>> I hope I'm not opening a can of worms but I have some questions about
>> tuning SSB signals with the R-390/URR.
>> 
>> I know it works best if the LOCAL or LINE GAIN control is at maximum and to
>> adjust the RF GAIN for a comfortable audio level.  What I'm wondering is
>> what the proper way is to set the BFO.
>> 
>> I've always set it +1 for LSB and -1 for USB but I can also just leave that
>> at zero and am still able to tune either sideband and now I'm wondering if
>> setting the BFO + or - is mainly to get the dial to reflect the received
>> frequency.  Is that an over-simplification?
>> 
>> I'm asking because I'm never really sure what the transmitted frequency
>> is.  If I set the BFO + or -, it's only a matter of how I determine what
>> sounds good (e.g. no Donald Duck, etc.) as to what the dial reads.
>> 
>> I apologize if that's something that should be more obvious but reading up
>> on it on the web doesn't quite make full sense to me.  The discussions seem
>> to revolve around whether the signal is in the IF's passband, etc., but
>> like I said, it seems I'm centering the signal in the IF even if I keep the
>> BFO at 0.
>> 
>> Thanks for any insight on this,
>> Barry - N4BUQ
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