eSSB noob...

Therapy · Post by **Therapy** » Sun May 08, 2011 3:24 am

Hi Everyone,
Lovely forum you fellas have going here, I have seen a few YT videos of eSSB stations on the air and they sound pretty darn good.

I'm not after broadcast quality audio, but rather just better than stock audio.

As I'm only new to the game, I haven't bought any gear yet, but I probably will soon.
At present I have a Behringer fbq1502, I was using it for other purposes, now it's in the shack... I also have a cheap n cheerful Shure pg58xlr mic. Again, I already had it, and it seems to be slightly better than the stocker.

The radio is a FT 857d from Yaesu, I appreciate this radio probably can't do true eSSB, but it's not exactly what I'm after, I just want some ideas on what I can do to get my audio sounding better than the average if you get what I mean. As I said, I plan on buying some gear in the future, so some ideas on what I should ain for would be nice.

Cheers
Therapy

Post by **Voodoo Guru** » Sun May 08, 2011 7:07 am

Howdy Therapy,
Welcome to the Forum!!

You should be able to get some very nice audio with the equipment you have listed. The FT-857 probably has a maximum of about 3kc bandwidth on TX, so you really wouldn't need all that much to get some really nice audio from it.

The pg58xlr Mic has a pretty good Low Frequency Roll off and you might not get the lows your looking for, but that all depends on upon your voice. It will probably do just fine for what your looking for, but you might keep that in the back of your mind for latter reference.

The FBQ1502 should work nicely for your EQ'ing functions.

The only things that you will need in order to use these items will be a Microphone Preamp, maybe a compressor, and a Line to Mic Level attenuator.

For a Mic Pre, the Behringer MIC2200 is probably the best, most inexpensive unit. Behringer also has a lot of compressors to choose from that are just as inexpensive. For the Attenuator, an I-Box from W2IHY would probably be your best bet.

Take Care,

M0AOV · Post by **M0AOV** » Sun May 08, 2011 1:57 pm

Also have a look at this site it might help with information

http://www.demonsdxers.es/index.php?opt ... &Itemid=61

Rob

Therapy · Post by **Therapy** » Mon May 09, 2011 4:51 am

Awesome, thanks for the no bullshit advice. Straight to the point, I like it.

I think the next thing I will buy will be the ibox... Is it an absolute necessity to stick a wider filter in, can I get it sounding OK for now with what it has? I don't mean to sound cheap, but I'm trying to prioritize things I guess.

Therapy · Post by **Therapy** » Fri May 13, 2011 5:21 pm

Ok, after a few QSO's on the air, operators seem to be telling me my audio is bordering on distortion on the peaks. And a bit nasal...

Where do I look Lords of wicked audio??

Post by **Voodoo Guru** » Sat May 14, 2011 7:09 am

Howdy,
For the distortion on your TX Audio, this is a very difficult thing to diagnose not being able to hear it, but there are several reasons that could cause this. The 2 most likely are...

1 - More then likely you need the a Line to Mic Level attenuator (W2IHY I-box). You usually cannot reduce the gain enough coming from Line Level equipment and go into the Mic Jack of the radio. If you mic Gain control is just about all the way turned down and it is VERY touchy, then this might be your problem.

2 - You are trying to boost the High frequencies to much and are starting to 'Tear' when you utter an 'sss'. This is called sibilance and you would need a good compressor set correctly to remove it.

The 'Nasal' sound is removed by proper EQ'ing.

Take Care,

Therapy · Post by **Therapy** » Sat May 14, 2011 5:34 pm

Ok, cool, I think I will just bight the bullet and get an ibox...

You mention proper EQing, is there a hard n fast way to get started in the right direction?

Post by **Voodoo Guru** » Sat May 14, 2011 6:07 pm

Nope, it takes research, research, research, learning your equipment, and many many hours talking into the dummy load tweaking your system.

It might be difficult for you because the rig your using does not have a monitor that is capable of reproducing the true frequency response of what your transmitting. You might have to find another receiver in order to accomplish this.

Search the forum and you will find posts that describe the process of setting the EQ. There are also some posts with starter settings

Have Fun,

Therapy · Post by **Therapy** » Sat May 14, 2011 6:12 pm

Ok, please excuse my noobishness, eSSB is totally new to me, as is any type of audio processing. I am the king of antennas, amp's, power supplies etc...

I have an old splatter box ft707, it was crap on TX, but was OK on RX, can I use this some how to monitor what I am TXing?

Thanks again for the help, it's great to know there are still people on the net with an idea, and willing to share it.

Post by **Voodoo Guru** » Sat May 14, 2011 6:18 pm

Were not sure of the Frequency Response of the Monitor in your present rig, or the response on the FT707, but more then likely the FT707 is going to be better then the monitor in the rig your Transmitting on.

Its going to be a try it and see type thing, which one sounds fuller and broader, the Monitor or the FT707.

Anyone out there know the Frequency Response characteristics of the FT857 TX Monitor?

Take Care,

Therapy · Post by **Therapy** » Sat May 14, 2011 8:20 pm

When you say "TX monitor" what do you mean by that?