Please forgive me if this is a FAQ. If it is, just point me to where I can find the old answer and I won't bring it up again.
I can usually get the CW decode to work if I can clearly hear the signal. The CWT bar flashes and the text scrolls, and it gets a lot of characters right. BUT... ...that's only if I have the preamp OFF. I've tried using the preamp but decreasing the RF gain. I've tried using the preamp and the attenuator. I even tried setting a couple of bands to only 10db preamplification. But if the preamp is on AT ALL, the decode either never gets a "lock" and the CWT bar is flickering randomly (no matter what the threshold setting is) with no decode, or the CWT bar is solid, no flashing, and there's no decode. If have the preamp OFF, the same signal will usually decode at least somewhat, and sometimes excellently. Most of the time, W1AW can decode fairly easily...though FLDIGI and CWGET seem to decode more reliably. They'll decode 80-90%, while mush is appearing on the PX3 display lines. But at least I get something with the preamp off. But there's just some times when the signal is weaker and I can't get the threshold to crack without the preamp. But then I get no decode at all. Am I doing something WRONG? Is there some step that I'm not understanding? Heck, I've seen past entries in the list where some have said they can't get decode unless the preamp is ON! Or is there some known issue with preamp + decode that I haven't seen? Mind you, my antenna, while not fantastic, is adequate for me to get to Europe on FT8 at 35 watts. I even got from Philly to Fargo on 50w FT8 on 30 meters, using an indoor magnetic loop I built. So it's not my antennas. I have signal, but paradoxically, when the signal is strengthened by the preamp, I get lower decode performance. I'd expect that in high-noise conditions -- amplifying the noise as well as the signal and hashing them both -- but when the noise floor is low and the signal is just made more solid with the preamp, I should be able to decode it with the same technique as when I use it on a stronger signal without the preamp. Shouldn't I? Or am I simply not grasping some fundamental issue? I've read the manual, I've read mailing list archive messages, I've experimented with my own second rig on a dummy load sending a canned CW message (K2 s/n 1641). This will, I hope, be a moot point in a few months. I'm trying to learn to copy the CW barebrained instead of using the decoder. (I got rusty from when I first learned it back in 1999.) But I want to at least be able to check my copy using the decode function if I can until then. Between them, maybe I can hold a coherent QSO! Thanks, Gwen, NG3P -- -+-+-+-+- Jenny Everywhere's Infinite: Quark Time http://quarktime.net ______________________________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:[email protected] This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html Message delivered to [email protected]
