Ahhhh... We haven't had a good "What kind of audio is it REALLY" mini-debate on the list in quite a while... good to see it again... heh. I agree with Bob that people keep mixing the term "flat" with "discriminator" and that's just downright confusing to new folks. Some of us understand what you meant to say, but it's the mix of the terms that throws people.
For any newbies reading along... if you find this discussion confusing -- don't worry. It is. Don't worry about it. In fact, we'll give ya the real deal here below... something you can actually DO/USE... You won't need to fully understand this unless you find out that you need to FIX it... then you'll have to dive in with both feet. To find out if you need to FIX it... Grab a radio. Put it on a good outside antenna. Listen to a station that's both full-quieting into your repeater and also into your location on the input. Hit the "reverse" button on your rig while they're talking. If they sound EXACTLY the same through the repeater as they sound on the input... you built your repeater right! Kick back with a beer and enjoy the never-ending terminology debate on the list knowing that you did yours correctly. If the two signals DON'T sound exactly the same, start reading -- and learning... and start deciding HOW the person sounds different: Are they "quieter" or "louder" on one or the other (deviation level, a limiter in the radio, or levels are set wrong somewhere)... ? More sleuthing required. Or do they sound "tinny" or "bassy" (uh oh - you're going to have to figure out this pre/de-emphasis thing... that or you've got a filter acting funny... or you have a radio with a really goofed up audio response somewhere... maybe you're using a MIC input or... well, there's lots of possibilities...)? If you find yourself with a repeater that is NOT right -- post your EXACT setup to the list including where you're taking audio from on each radio, whether your controller supports doing internal pre/de-emphasis, etc -- the model numbers and where you tapped audio from are usually PLENTY of info for most of us here to help you out. And if you can describe your setup accurately -- there's virtually no doubt the gurus here can help you make it sound RIGHT... the terminology and arguments will fade away and we'll all stop arguing and help you out! (GRIN) So, distilling it down to what's important here... Here's my "public service announcement" for the day... "If users sound the same on the input and output... you did it right. If not, post questions and start figuring out how to get there." Nate WY0X
