Re: [Elecraft] Why no IF shift ?

2006-08-10 Thread VR2BrettGraham

The TS-820 is single conversion  has IF shift, does it not?

IF shift is handiest I find for CW, as chance to move passband
such that unwanted signal outside or down the skirt.

IF shift on SSB tends to result in moving passband on to
another signal.

Much prefer the good skirts from cascaded filters on CW, rather
than upper skirt of one filter  lower skirt of other with variable
bandwidth tuning.

And much prefer VBT on SSB, as can cut down to just enough
to understand what is being said if need be.

The K2 is a nice rig, but really wasn't intended for something
demanding like (c-word deleted).  I have yet to turn in a top ten
world score in a (c-word deleted) with the K2, but can do so with
TS-950/IC-765.  K2 only used as substitute if one of those dies.

I find IF gymnastics indispensable even for (d-word deleted), as
well as well as good IF filtering - something in mainstream rigs
now for decades.  Neither really needed for something with say
backpacking in mind - K2 rather lacking in latter, but more than
adequate for more pedestrian-like operation  therefore many
will not agree at all.

Hopefully one day Elecraft will come up with a product that is
something like an all solid-state kit form of a modernized
TS-820, provided it has decent IF filters or chance to put
something better (preferably plural) in that would make it
possible to not need VBT.

73, VU/VR2BrettGraham

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Re: [Elecraft] Why no IF shift ?

2006-08-10 Thread N2EY
In a message dated 8/10/06 1:39:55 PM Eastern Daylight Time, 
[EMAIL PROTECTED] writes:


 The TS-820 is single conversion  has IF shift, does it not?

The TS-820 is not single conversion. It is either double or triple 
conversion.

73 de Jim, N2EY
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Re: [Elecraft] Why no IF shift ?

2006-08-10 Thread Dave G3VGR
Incorrect - it is definitely single conversion, using an analogue PLL 
local oscillator and 8.83Mhz IF


73, Dave G3VGR

[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
In a message dated 8/10/06 1:39:55 PM Eastern Daylight Time, 
[EMAIL PROTECTED] writes:





The TS-820 is single conversion  has IF shift, does it not?



The TS-820 is not single conversion. It is either double or triple 
conversion.


73 de Jim, N2EY
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Re: [Elecraft] Why no IF shift ?

2006-08-10 Thread N2EY
In a message dated 8/10/06 7:03:23 PM Eastern Daylight Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] 
writes:


 Incorrect - it is definitely single conversion, using an analogue PLL 
 local oscillator and 8.83Mhz IF
 
 

Right you are - I was thinking of the 520.

Sorry for the confusion!

73 de Jim, N2EY
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Re: [Elecraft] Why no IF shift ?

2006-08-09 Thread N2EY
In a message dated 8/8/06 9:53:06 PM Eastern Daylight Time, 
[EMAIL PROTECTED] writes:


 Have just been able to get to read your e-mail. Will answer in full later 
 today - 02:50 am at the moment -  probably direct to avoid using Discussion 
 List bandwidth.
 

Greetings,

I strongly suggest replying to the Elecraft reflector too, because it's 
important to the Elecraft product line. I'm pretty sure the moderators would 
like 
to see all sides of the issue.

Who knows - it might influence the design of a future Elecraft rig.

73 de Jim, N2EY

 
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Re: [Elecraft] Why no IF shift ?

2006-08-09 Thread N2EY
In a message dated 8/8/06 8:41:15 PM Eastern Daylight Time, 
[EMAIL PROTECTED] writes:


 but the reality of all of it is compromise.
 For any given price target, some tradeoffs must be made.  If I can interpret
 the K2 design goals loosely, the dynamic range was considered uppermost, and
 good sensitivity and IP3 performance running a close second.  


(snip of excellent discussion)

I agree with all that, but would add a bit more:

*All* rig designs are compromises/tradeoffs - just different ones. 

Besides the above criteria, Elecraft designs focus on low power requirement, 
low complexity, minimal use of custom parts, user constructability and 
serviceability, and small size/weight without going all surface mount. 

Many other designs, including some considered portable, accept massive 
increases in complexity, power requirement, and use of special parts to achieve 
their design goals. User serviceability is usually minimal - beyond a certain 
very basic point, you either have to be a skilled technician with lots of test 
gear, or you send the rig to one. 

That's not to say either approach is right or wrong, just that they 
accept very different tradeoffs. 

73 de Jim, N2EY



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Re: [Elecraft] Why no IF shift ?

2006-08-09 Thread Sam Morgan

[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:

User serviceability is usually minimal - beyond a certain 
very basic point, you either have to be a skilled technician with lots of test 
gear, or you send the rig to one. 

That's not to say either approach is right or wrong, just that they 
accept very different tradeoffs. 


You said a mouthful there Jim
--
GB  73's
KA5OAI
Sam Morgan
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Re: [Elecraft] Why no IF shift ?

2006-08-08 Thread Geoffrey Mackenzie-Kennedy

Ron AC7AC wrote:


Others pointed out the reason - single conversion design. That
single-conversion design is also what helps the K2's performance excel
compared to those with multiple-conversions that allow for an IF Shift
knob. Frequency conversions in receivers are like making copies in
photography. You can go to great extremes to make each copy very high
quality, but each generation degrades the image, just the same. In a
receiver, every conversion degrades the performance, no matter how hard the
engineers try to avoid it.

-

Hang on g. One problem with single down conversion receivers is that their 
stronger spurious responses which, depending on the IF used, can be close 
to or even in one or more of the frequency bands covered by the receiver. If 
bandpass filters are used between the antenna connector and the mixer, their 
selectivity might offer some degree of protection against signals coming in 
at spurious response frequencies outside but close to the bands covered but 
obviously no protection against anything coming in at an in-band spurious 
response frequency. The choice of IF that reduces this problem in a single 
down conversion receiver is quite limited.


In a double conversion receiver, up and then down,  assuming that sensible 
design and construction practices are followed, the close or in-band 
spurious responses (if they exist) are considerably reduced.


Then there is the internal birdie problem, usually created by one or more of 
the receiver's oscillators and /or their harmonics getting together to 
produce a signal at some spurious response frequency of the receiver. If the 
Front End, LO and IF are not properly shielded in separate boxes with all 
associated DC and control lines filtered, then expect birdies in a single 
down conversion receiver. The same method of construction should be used in 
a double conversion receiver. I suspect that commercial double conversion 
amateur receivers have received a bad press because for reasons of cost this 
is usually not done.


It is true that every conversion degrades the performance, but for several 
years the technology has been available that allows a double conversion 
receiver to be built which exhibits an IIP3 of +40dbm
at an offset of 2 kHz while running at full gain, Noise Figure of 8db on 
10m. I have one here. The downside is that each one of the three VHF roofing 
filters / embedded amplifiers selected draws 240 mA.


With double conversion, in addition to true IF Shift a form of continuous 
bandwidth control can also be introduced.


73,
Geoff
GM4ESD








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Re: [Elecraft] Why no IF shift ?

2006-08-08 Thread N2EY
In a message dated 8/8/06 6:41:46 AM Eastern Daylight Time, 
[EMAIL PROTECTED] writes:


 One problem with single down conversion receivers is that their 
 stronger spurious responses which, depending on the IF used, can be close 
 to or even in one or more of the frequency bands covered by the receiver. 

How?

In a single conversion superhet, the most important spurs are the image and 
IF feedthrough. In the case of a K2, the image is always about 9.830 MHz from 
the desired signal, and the IF is around 4.915 MHz. The bandpass filters take 
care of those spurs very well, in my experience.

If 
 
 bandpass filters are used between the antenna connector and the mixer, their 
 
 selectivity might offer some degree of protection against signals coming in 
 at spurious response frequencies outside but close to the bands covered but 
 obviously no protection against anything coming in at an in-band spurious 
 response frequency. 

What in band spurs exist in the K2?

The choice of IF that reduces this problem in a single 
 
 down conversion receiver is quite limited.
 
 In a double conversion receiver, up and then down,  assuming that sensible 
 design and construction practices are followed, the close or in-band 
 spurious responses (if they exist) are considerably reduced.
 

That may be the case in a general-coverage receiver, but in a ham-bands-only 
design, the spurious responses are easily handled by good input filters. 

 Then there is the internal birdie problem, usually created by one or more 
 of 
 the receiver's oscillators and /or their harmonics getting together to 
 produce a signal at some spurious response frequency of the receiver. 

Again, this is dependent on the design. For a ham-bands-only receiver, the 
birdies can be placed outside the ham bands. 

If the 
 
 Front End, LO and IF are not properly shielded in separate boxes with all 
 associated DC and control lines filtered, then expect birdies in a single 
 down conversion receiver. The same method of construction should be used in 
 a double conversion receiver. I suspect that commercial double conversion 
 amateur receivers have received a bad press because for reasons of cost this 
 
 is usually not done.
 

There are some very good up/down double conversion amateur receivers. But 
they all suffer from the same problem: The signal has to go through several 
stages and conversions before it gets to the sharp filters. In a single 
conversion 
design like the K2, the number of stages and conversions between antenna and 
sharp filter is minimized.


 It is true that every conversion degrades the performance, but for several 
 years the technology has been available that allows a double conversion 
 receiver to be built which exhibits an IIP3 of +40dbm
 at an offset of 2 kHz while running at full gain, Noise Figure of 8db on 
 10m. I have one here. The downside is that each one of the three VHF roofing 
 
 filters / embedded amplifiers selected draws 240 mA.
 

There's also the issue of price

 With double conversion, in addition to true IF Shift a form of continuous 
 
 bandwidth control can also be introduced.
 

73 de Jim, N2EY

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RE: [Elecraft] Why no IF shift ?

2006-08-08 Thread Don Wilhelm
Folks, (long philosophical response - delete if not interested in my
opinion).

Some very good points mentioned in this thread, but the reality of all of it
is compromise.
For any given price target, some tradeoffs must be made.  If I can interpret
the K2 design goals loosely, the dynamic range was considered uppermost, and
good sensitivity and IP3 performance running a close second.  To achieve
that in a kit product, single conversion IMHO is the only realistic way to
go.

Yes, there ae very good designs out there for multi-conversion receivers and
they have their costs and limitations, but the K2 is a compromise of all
that.  It is single conversion because that is the way to contain the
dynamic range and good IP3 characteristics within the chosen price range.
It is well known that one must get into the $3K+++ transceivers to achieve
those receive parameters that K2/100 owners have achieved for less than half
that price.

Certainly, IF shift is not an easy acomplishment with a single conversion
transceiver.  Answering one question posed in the thread which asked why a
BFO frequency knob would not do the deed - the answer is  YES, BUT - if only
the BFO frequency is changed, the displayed frequency would no longer be
correct - the firmware currently corrects for both the BFO and VFO
frequencies and displays the correct carrier frequency, so while passband
tuning might be accomplished simply by changing the BFO, the VFO would have
to be altered manually to compensate for the BFO shift, and the resulting
frequency on the dial would be incorrect.  We used to do exactly that on
receivers with a variable BFO, but then we did not have digital dials that
were good to the nearest 10 Hz (but I digress).  When CAL FIL is run, all
that is taken into consideration in the firmware, and the EEPROM values
contain the result of that calibration run which produces correct carrier
frequency dial readings - you have to give up one thing to gain another in
any design process unless 'price is no object'.

If the world were perfect, we would all have receivers with a 120+ dB
dynamic range, straight sided selectivity curves (with perfectly flat pass
band shapes and no change in group delay across the passband), MDS figures
in the -160 dB range and all that at a cost of less than $100 - of course I
am dreaming based on today's technology and price/performance criteria that
would be within the budget of the majority of hams.  There is no sense in
developing a superior design for production that would sell only one unit
because of the cost involved - that is the stuff that extreme designs can
produce, but those are currently the stuff of advanced homebrewers - they
are the designs of tomorrow when the price of such designs comes down to an
affordable level suitable for production.


73,
Don W3FPR


 -Original Message-
 From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
 [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Behalf Of [EMAIL PROTECTED]
 Sent: Tuesday, August 08, 2006 7:27 PM
 To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]; elecraft@mailman.qth.net
 Subject: Re: [Elecraft] Why no IF shift ?


 In a message dated 8/8/06 6:41:46 AM Eastern Daylight Time,
 [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes:


  One problem with single down conversion receivers is that their
  stronger spurious responses which, depending on the IF used,
 can be close
  to or even in one or more of the frequency bands covered by the
 receiver.

 How?

 In a single conversion superhet, the most important spurs are the
 image and
 IF feedthrough. In the case of a K2, the image is always about
 9.830 MHz from
 the desired signal, and the IF is around 4.915 MHz. The bandpass
 filters take
 care of those spurs very well, in my experience.

 If
 
  bandpass filters are used between the antenna connector and the
 mixer, their
 
  selectivity might offer some degree of protection against
 signals coming in
  at spurious response frequencies outside but close to the bands
 covered but
  obviously no protection against anything coming in at an
 in-band spurious
  response frequency.

 What in band spurs exist in the K2?

 The choice of IF that reduces this problem in a single
 
  down conversion receiver is quite limited.
 
  In a double conversion receiver, up and then down,  assuming
 that sensible
  design and construction practices are followed, the close or in-band
  spurious responses (if they exist) are considerably reduced.
 

 That may be the case in a general-coverage receiver, but in a
 ham-bands-only
 design, the spurious responses are easily handled by good input filters.

  Then there is the internal birdie problem, usually created by
 one or more
  of
  the receiver's oscillators and /or their harmonics getting together to
  produce a signal at some spurious response frequency of the receiver.

 Again, this is dependent on the design. For a ham-bands-only
 receiver, the
 birdies can be placed outside the ham bands.

 If the
 
  Front End, LO and IF are not properly shielded in separate
 boxes with all
  associated DC and control

Re: [Elecraft] Why no IF shift ?

2006-08-08 Thread n4dsp

Wow. Thanks Don!!

john-n4dsp


- Original Message - 
From: Don Wilhelm [EMAIL PROTECTED]

To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]; [EMAIL PROTECTED]; elecraft@mailman.qth.net
Sent: Tuesday, August 08, 2006 8:39 PM
Subject: RE: [Elecraft] Why no IF shift ?



Folks, (long philosophical response - delete if not interested in my
opinion).

Some very good points mentioned in this thread, but the reality of all of 
it

is compromise.
For any given price target, some tradeoffs must be made.  If I can 
interpret
the K2 design goals loosely, the dynamic range was considered uppermost, 
and

good sensitivity and IP3 performance running a close second.  To achieve
that in a kit product, single conversion IMHO is the only realistic way to
go.

Yes, there ae very good designs out there for multi-conversion receivers 
and

they have their costs and limitations, but the K2 is a compromise of all
that.  It is single conversion because that is the way to contain the
dynamic range and good IP3 characteristics within the chosen price range.
It is well known that one must get into the $3K+++ transceivers to achieve
those receive parameters that K2/100 owners have achieved for less than 
half

that price.

Certainly, IF shift is not an easy acomplishment with a single conversion
transceiver.  Answering one question posed in the thread which asked why a
BFO frequency knob would not do the deed - the answer is  YES, BUT - if 
only

the BFO frequency is changed, the displayed frequency would no longer be
correct - the firmware currently corrects for both the BFO and VFO
frequencies and displays the correct carrier frequency, so while passband
tuning might be accomplished simply by changing the BFO, the VFO would 
have

to be altered manually to compensate for the BFO shift, and the resulting
frequency on the dial would be incorrect.  We used to do exactly that on
receivers with a variable BFO, but then we did not have digital dials that
were good to the nearest 10 Hz (but I digress).  When CAL FIL is run, all
that is taken into consideration in the firmware, and the EEPROM values
contain the result of that calibration run which produces correct carrier
frequency dial readings - you have to give up one thing to gain another in
any design process unless 'price is no object'.

If the world were perfect, we would all have receivers with a 120+ dB
dynamic range, straight sided selectivity curves (with perfectly flat pass
band shapes and no change in group delay across the passband), MDS figures
in the -160 dB range and all that at a cost of less than $100 - of course 
I
am dreaming based on today's technology and price/performance criteria 
that

would be within the budget of the majority of hams.  There is no sense in
developing a superior design for production that would sell only one unit
because of the cost involved - that is the stuff that extreme designs can
produce, but those are currently the stuff of advanced homebrewers - they
are the designs of tomorrow when the price of such designs comes down to 
an

affordable level suitable for production.


73,
Don W3FPR



-Original Message-
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Behalf Of [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Sent: Tuesday, August 08, 2006 7:27 PM
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]; elecraft@mailman.qth.net
Subject: Re: [Elecraft] Why no IF shift ?


In a message dated 8/8/06 6:41:46 AM Eastern Daylight Time,
[EMAIL PROTECTED] writes:


 One problem with single down conversion receivers is that their
 stronger spurious responses which, depending on the IF used,
can be close
 to or even in one or more of the frequency bands covered by the
receiver.

How?

In a single conversion superhet, the most important spurs are the
image and
IF feedthrough. In the case of a K2, the image is always about
9.830 MHz from
the desired signal, and the IF is around 4.915 MHz. The bandpass
filters take
care of those spurs very well, in my experience.

If

 bandpass filters are used between the antenna connector and the
mixer, their

 selectivity might offer some degree of protection against
signals coming in
 at spurious response frequencies outside but close to the bands
covered but
 obviously no protection against anything coming in at an
in-band spurious
 response frequency.

What in band spurs exist in the K2?

The choice of IF that reduces this problem in a single

 down conversion receiver is quite limited.

 In a double conversion receiver, up and then down,  assuming
that sensible
 design and construction practices are followed, the close or in-band
 spurious responses (if they exist) are considerably reduced.


That may be the case in a general-coverage receiver, but in a
ham-bands-only
design, the spurious responses are easily handled by good input filters.

 Then there is the internal birdie problem, usually created by
one or more
 of
 the receiver's oscillators and /or their harmonics getting together to
 produce a signal at some spurious response frequency of the receiver.

Again

RE: [Elecraft] Why no IF shift ?

2006-08-08 Thread Siu Johnny

Hi Group,

PRESS your delete button now if you don't like long winded arguement.

For the price paid for K2, we have the chance to enjoy exceptionally RX 
performance near the top end transceivers. Naturally, we have to give up 
something e.g. band scope specturm, manual notch within AGC loop, IF shift, 
band pass tuning, FM mode and general TX/RX coverage etc


Part of the price paid for K2 is for customer services and support.  
Elecraft has to be profitable in their business in order to survive.  
Bearing in mind, quite a portion of the ham population is fond of multiband 
multifunction all mode rigs.  It is nothing wrong for them but competition 
in the ham rig market is keen.  If we are NOT prepared to give up something 
for such a high performance K2, the price for K2 could be much higher and 
not affordable by most of the hams.


Just taking IC7800 as an example, only 25% of the sale goes to the ham 
market whereas 75% goes to the institutional users.  ICOM earn most of 
their profit from corporate users.  Therefore, you can imagine how many 
hams can afford high end rigs at high price.  For what we got from the K2 
is quite a good balance among performance, functions and pricing.


Clearly, if there were a new K3 with all the missing functions mentioned in 
para. 1 above and at similar price tag, I would be delighted to jump into 
it.  However, we have to be realisitc and Eleraft has to make his profit  
to survive.


I share the 'miss' of IF shift and did ask similar question about 4 years 
ago when I first built my s/n1146.  Eventually, I accepted it as a 
compromise.  I  have the luck to own / play around most of the top end rigs 
but I still love my K2.


73

Johnny Siu VR2XMC


From: Don Wilhelm [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED],elecraft@mailman.qth.net
Subject: RE: [Elecraft] Why no IF shift ?
Date: Tue, 8 Aug 2006 20:39:34 -0400

Folks, (long philosophical response - delete if not interested in my
opinion).

Some very good points mentioned in this thread, but the reality of all of 
it

is compromise.
For any given price target, some tradeoffs must be made.  If I can 
interpret
the K2 design goals loosely, the dynamic range was considered uppermost, 
and

good sensitivity and IP3 performance running a close second.  To achieve
that in a kit product, single conversion IMHO is the only realistic way to
go.

Yes, there ae very good designs out there for multi-conversion receivers 
and

they have their costs and limitations, but the K2 is a compromise of all
that.  It is single conversion because that is the way to contain the
dynamic range and good IP3 characteristics within the chosen price range.
It is well known that one must get into the $3K+++ transceivers to achieve
those receive parameters that K2/100 owners have achieved for less than 
half

that price.

Certainly, IF shift is not an easy acomplishment with a single conversion
transceiver.  Answering one question posed in the thread which asked why a
BFO frequency knob would not do the deed - the answer is  YES, BUT - if 
only

the BFO frequency is changed, the displayed frequency would no longer be
correct - the firmware currently corrects for both the BFO and VFO
frequencies and displays the correct carrier frequency, so while passband
tuning might be accomplished simply by changing the BFO, the VFO would have
to be altered manually to compensate for the BFO shift, and the resulting
frequency on the dial would be incorrect.  We used to do exactly that on
receivers with a variable BFO, but then we did not have digital dials that
were good to the nearest 10 Hz (but I digress).  When CAL FIL is run, all
that is taken into consideration in the firmware, and the EEPROM values
contain the result of that calibration run which produces correct carrier
frequency dial readings - you have to give up one thing to gain another in
any design process unless 'price is no object'.

If the world were perfect, we would all have receivers with a 120+ dB
dynamic range, straight sided selectivity curves (with perfectly flat pass
band shapes and no change in group delay across the passband), MDS figures
in the -160 dB range and all that at a cost of less than $100 - of course I
am dreaming based on today's technology and price/performance criteria that
would be within the budget of the majority of hams.  There is no sense in
developing a superior design for production that would sell only one unit
because of the cost involved - that is the stuff that extreme designs can
produce, but those are currently the stuff of advanced homebrewers - they
are the designs of tomorrow when the price of such designs comes down to an
affordable level suitable for production.


73,
Don W3FPR


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Re: [Elecraft] Why no IF shift ?

2006-08-08 Thread Geoffrey Mackenzie-Kennedy

Jim,

Have just been able to get to read your e-mail. Will answer in full later 
today - 02:50 am at the moment -  probably direct to avoid using Discussion 
List bandwidth.


73,
Geoff
GM4ESD
 - Original Message - 
 From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]

 To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] ; elecraft@mailman.qth.net
 Sent: Wednesday, August 09, 2006 12:27 AM
 Subject: Re: [Elecraft] Why no IF shift ?


 In a message dated 8/8/06 6:41:46 AM Eastern Daylight Time, 
[EMAIL PROTECTED] writes:




   One problem with single down conversion receivers is that their
   stronger spurious responses which, depending on the IF used, can be 
close
   to or even in one or more of the frequency bands covered by the 
receiver.



 How?
 snip




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[Elecraft] Why no IF shift ?

2006-08-07 Thread PE1E
Bit by bit I learn K2 is loaded with quality not commonly found in other HF
ham gear.
Why no ( real.. ) IF shift ? ( common in all  other  rigs , even my cheap
FT-100's ).

Peter, PE1E


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Re: [Elecraft] Why no IF shift ?

2006-08-07 Thread Mike WA8BXN
Being single conversion may have something to do with it. But I imagine one
could shift the bfo frequency along with the tuning to give the effect of IF
shift, if one had a place to put another knob. 
 
73/72 - Mike WA8BXN 
 
 
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Re: [Elecraft] Why no IF shift ?

2006-08-07 Thread N2EY
In a message dated 8/7/06 7:03:01 PM Eastern Daylight Time, 
[EMAIL PROTECTED] writes:


 I imagine one
 could shift the bfo frequency along with the tuning to give the effect of IF
 shift, if one had a place to put another knob. 
 

The venerable Collins 75A-4 of a half-century ago, possibly the first 
receiver to have the feature, implemented the feature that way - mechanically! 
When 
you turned the knob, the PTO assembly rotated one way, changing the LO 
frequency and the BFO pitch control rotated to change the BFO frequency the 
same 
amount, but in the opposite direction. The method's success depended on the 
absolute linearity of the Collins PTO and BFO tuning. Quite a challenge even 
though 
the PTO and BFO tuned only single ranges for all bands.

btw, Collins called it bandpass tuning IIRC.

The same concept could be employed in the K-2, but it would require software 
that would figure out how to move the LO one way and the BFO the other way by 
exactly the same amount. And the software would have to do it on all bands and 
all frequencies on those bands!  

Most other rigs implement IF shift by an extra conversion step after the 
first fixed IF. This means there's a lot of gain and stages between the antenna 
and the sharp selectivity knothole. No thanks.

IMHO, IF shift is of limited use in a CW receiver, and not worth giving up 
having the filter right up against the first mixer.

73 de Jim, N2EY

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