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WEST MOUNTAIN RADIO “ClearSpeech” DSP Speaker
- Thread starter Slowmover
- Start date
Noisy bands like 40,60,80 meters etc are just that. It's still better with this speaker than 3 others I tried. Higher bands tend to have less noise and when signals are strong, this speakers punches through.
Headphones sounds way better plugging into the this speaker than radio direct.
Not sure what you're asking, I don't combine my audio gear with my HF. Just share a mic is all.
I’ve wondered about headphones. What brand/type do you prefer once stationary and you’ve run up the Big Wire?
Not everyone pays attention to sound quality.
Words matter, yes, but so do clues available about delivery. The silences between words.
When folks strive for AM radio announcer as a model of the way their rig sounds to others, it’s in the surrounding quiet that words are presented and vocal emphasis achieved.
I was wondering how you looked at it. (Voices cover a dynamic range in conversation). Compression in music reproduction or voice transmission “can” lead to ambiguity, is an unintended irony.
I “get” the use of PUNCH to describe the tools’ (WM SPKR) capability.
I wasn’t quite intending to have us stray into discussion about abstractions on human voice & frequency range, but engineering of a speaker for transceiver use DOES have to accommodate more than just “sound”. It has to be tailored.
And there’s nothing tougher than a mobile environment (my opinion).
One is underway, and — with CB — there’s no sense of cooperation between those reporting a problem (at times).
We wind up having to make guesses about some of what we hear (information being imparted by the knowledgeable; the experienced driver at the other end making description of a problem is ONE example) and the guesses we make become reliant not always on words heard, but HOW they are spoken.
“Trained operators” isn’t an assumption. The military trains such that field reports follow a pattern. Not in CB-land.
Thus, HOW WELL those words are heard becomes crucial. Others can screw up the integrity of a report.
It’s all happening at high speed.
The WM SPKR is simply great in necessary audio quality. Not just noise reduction.
I’ve likened its abilities to allow one to hear AROUND the noise ever present.
That’s a COMBINATION of factors.
We’ve more happening than just the radio built-in speaker made louder with a Noise Blank button applied.
I don’t wish to carry this too far, but comparison to a standard CB external speaker in an A-B Test is more than just “cut the noise”. It’s also improve the quality of what we’re hearing.
Our adjustments to RF Gain & Squelch on a CB/Export then the filtration dialed in on speaker is finally enough to re-set Volume (both devices).
This feels revelatory. (“Wow, there it is!”)
Thx
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On another (related) note, two ideas where it’s a CB/Export you’re using:
First, comments by Big Kahuna, (on, IIRC, the Prez Lincoln)
1). Backing off RF GAIN a fair amount (plus Squelch far enough that 85% is blanked; not position, per se, but “sound”);
Can result in improved clarity without losing much (if any) in Range.
(To take this farther) the out-loud thoughts by Shadetree Mechanic on squeezing the available audio (my interpretation); where,
2). Using a pre-amp to magnify distant signals (radio controls as above; backed off even farther)
where a West Mountain Radio ClearSpeaker is in use
CAN (in my experience) result in desirable parameters to capture some transmissions under some conditions.
Not everywhere, and not always.
I’d recommend also varying which device has its volume turned up as against the other. (That balance).
There ARE times a KL-203p can be made to work agreeably well with its’ pre-amp circuitry. Both on AM and on Sideband. (The WM SPKR makes it realistic).
The point to this: don’t be dismayed by one or a few tests via this approach if it doesn’t seem to matter.
With Skip a’rollin’ I’ve changed into and then out of this configuration. (Driving direction and constant terrain changes).
Sometimes it works.
.
First, comments by Big Kahuna, (on, IIRC, the Prez Lincoln)
1). Backing off RF GAIN a fair amount (plus Squelch far enough that 85% is blanked; not position, per se, but “sound”);
Can result in improved clarity without losing much (if any) in Range.
(To take this farther) the out-loud thoughts by Shadetree Mechanic on squeezing the available audio (my interpretation); where,
2). Using a pre-amp to magnify distant signals (radio controls as above; backed off even farther)
where a West Mountain Radio ClearSpeaker is in use
CAN (in my experience) result in desirable parameters to capture some transmissions under some conditions.
Not everywhere, and not always.
I’d recommend also varying which device has its volume turned up as against the other. (That balance).
There ARE times a KL-203p can be made to work agreeably well with its’ pre-amp circuitry. Both on AM and on Sideband. (The WM SPKR makes it realistic).
The point to this: don’t be dismayed by one or a few tests via this approach if it doesn’t seem to matter.
With Skip a’rollin’ I’ve changed into and then out of this configuration. (Driving direction and constant terrain changes).
Sometimes it works.
.
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Haven’t mentioned it in this thread, but it ties to my posts above:
It is often I can run the roads with
— RF Gain at MAX,
— Squelch turned OFF
— NB/ANL disabled
That’s the basic goodness of a WM CLRSPKR
It’s not always “silence” . . . but it can be surprisingly close. (What noise is present isn’t so distracting or aggravating)
It also assumes one has — and is — chasing down and killing noise sources affecting the act of listening.
By itself, the speaker is a bigger change than that from cheap radio to quality radio.
Yet
It’s mobile working environment is the real key.
WHERE it’s placed. Windows opened or closed. Etc.
Some of you old enough to remember the basic AM radio by Detroit used a single speaker in the dashboard firing upwards against the windshield was enough all passengers could hear it.
Experiment with this.
RFI ain’t everything.
.
It is often I can run the roads with
— RF Gain at MAX,
— Squelch turned OFF
— NB/ANL disabled
That’s the basic goodness of a WM CLRSPKR
It’s not always “silence” . . . but it can be surprisingly close. (What noise is present isn’t so distracting or aggravating)
It also assumes one has — and is — chasing down and killing noise sources affecting the act of listening.
By itself, the speaker is a bigger change than that from cheap radio to quality radio.
Yet
It’s mobile working environment is the real key.
WHERE it’s placed. Windows opened or closed. Etc.
Some of you old enough to remember the basic AM radio by Detroit used a single speaker in the dashboard firing upwards against the windshield was enough all passengers could hear it.
Experiment with this.
RFI ain’t everything.
.
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I don’t ever use squelch, and very very rarely turn down the RF gain. That’s usually only when I’m suffering bleedover from 27.025. I have been playing with this more and more, but have yet to see a situation where I can copy a station better by reducing the RF Gain.
I used the preamp on my DX500V several times this spring and found it very useful under the right conditions..that’s a sharp departure from my previous line of thinking: preamps suck.
Specifically, with a weak station showing “0” signal level when QRM was low. Able to tell they were there, just not enough volume on the radio to hear them. Turn the preamp on and there they are at a steady 5/3. Easy contact.
I miss having the preamp after switching to the DX1600.
I think there’s a good chance that a preamp/ DSP combo might work for me. It won’t work all the time, but sometimes. In my case sometimes will be enough to matter.
I used the preamp on my DX500V several times this spring and found it very useful under the right conditions..that’s a sharp departure from my previous line of thinking: preamps suck.
Specifically, with a weak station showing “0” signal level when QRM was low. Able to tell they were there, just not enough volume on the radio to hear them. Turn the preamp on and there they are at a steady 5/3. Easy contact.
I miss having the preamp after switching to the DX1600.
I think there’s a good chance that a preamp/ DSP combo might work for me. It won’t work all the time, but sometimes. In my case sometimes will be enough to matter.
Posted before but belongs in this thread.
My first day playing with the DSP, in the driveway with nasty neighborhood QRM.
DSP turns on at about 10 seconds....never went above 9 o’clock on the dial.
My first day playing with the DSP, in the driveway with nasty neighborhood QRM.
DSP turns on at about 10 seconds....never went above 9 o’clock on the dial.
I again tried swapping the balance of “volume” from speaker back to radio.
— where Speaker = Low, and Radio = High
Quickly sent Speaker into Clipping (red light, not normal green)
Make adjustments to lessen. (Naw).
Background too loud in this Peterbilt. Wind noise, etc. To overcome that I have to crank radio 3/4 the way up. (Versus under 1/4 the other way where Speaker volume is moved to 12:00 position and Radio adjusted to that).
I can “make it work”, but the strain on the Speaker is evident.
I’m wondering if the power the radio uses to fire an external speaker also adds to problem. (Galaxy DX86v). Maybe other radios use a lower wattage.
Still, it does lessen the “pop” of keying up. But treatment with ferrites of Speaker Power & Audio cables, plus Microphone cord already took care of that “enough”.
About the only time I reach over to the Speaker to make adjustments is with Filtration. As the WM manual states, staying between the 10:00 and 12:00 positions covers most everything.
I leave it at 10:00 and only occasionally test it by moving.
Due to a one-mile-per-minute pace down the road, adjusting RF GAIN or SQUELCH is more helpful. One setting pair of those on AM and another (usually both OFF) on SSB reveals itself during that day’s drive for long periods (until The Flying Fickle Finger of Fate moves me into the days ideal propagation map).
Skip’s a’rollin’ calls for changes.
A phone call finds me turning Radio volume off or nearest. Call over, the position of the Radio above right shoulder makes it easy to steady the hand against Radio case and use a finger-pair to just barely move it back up. Eyes stay on road.
A Sonic Cushion (and diode across power?) looks like a worthwhile experiment in re this problem.
A “line level” output from Radio also looks desirable.
.
— where Speaker = Low, and Radio = High
Quickly sent Speaker into Clipping (red light, not normal green)
Make adjustments to lessen. (Naw).
Background too loud in this Peterbilt. Wind noise, etc. To overcome that I have to crank radio 3/4 the way up. (Versus under 1/4 the other way where Speaker volume is moved to 12:00 position and Radio adjusted to that).
I can “make it work”, but the strain on the Speaker is evident.
I’m wondering if the power the radio uses to fire an external speaker also adds to problem. (Galaxy DX86v). Maybe other radios use a lower wattage.
Still, it does lessen the “pop” of keying up. But treatment with ferrites of Speaker Power & Audio cables, plus Microphone cord already took care of that “enough”.
About the only time I reach over to the Speaker to make adjustments is with Filtration. As the WM manual states, staying between the 10:00 and 12:00 positions covers most everything.
I leave it at 10:00 and only occasionally test it by moving.
Due to a one-mile-per-minute pace down the road, adjusting RF GAIN or SQUELCH is more helpful. One setting pair of those on AM and another (usually both OFF) on SSB reveals itself during that day’s drive for long periods (until The Flying Fickle Finger of Fate moves me into the days ideal propagation map).
Skip’s a’rollin’ calls for changes.
A phone call finds me turning Radio volume off or nearest. Call over, the position of the Radio above right shoulder makes it easy to steady the hand against Radio case and use a finger-pair to just barely move it back up. Eyes stay on road.
A Sonic Cushion (and diode across power?) looks like a worthwhile experiment in re this problem.
A “line level” output from Radio also looks desirable.
.
I’ve been running mine just about straight to the 9 o’clock on the filtering; that being enough to hear that it’s “on” and the bulk of the noise gone and without unnecessarily distorting a weak signal.
Sure enough, with a strong enough signal you can crank it straight to max and take out all the noise.
Sure enough, with a strong enough signal you can crank it straight to max and take out all the noise.
I think that’ll be a function of proper or complete radio installation.(Complete noise removal).
1). I can see it being true for a private vehicle where best standards are applied
2). I’d find it difficult to believe one couldn’t have that with a base station.
3). I’ve not found it so with a big truck. Noise remains. But one can hear around it is the way I liken it. The noise isn’t the impediment it was before.
— Antenna Mount, is the problem.
But, nothing else comes close to the ability of DSP to improve a CB/Exports performance in that role.
(A promise of “silence” is a motivator to get my pickup truck project back underway. Thx)
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My 2018 CTD Dodge is much more noisy than my 2005 Hemi. That surprises me.
I work DX with truck off, but I find that the truck generates QRM right until the dash lights go out...10 minutes or so.
Have a 100’ roll of 3/4” tinned braid. Time to get to work.
Tinned copper SELTERM lugs to fit 4-AWG and #10 5/8” sheetmetal screws is what I bought to go with 3/4-W braid. (And those ding-danged hexpensive double star washers).
I wasn’t too interested in having to drill a hole in in the braid, install a grommet, nor solder the cut ends.
Just measure for those in an area from underneath I don’t have to move much to reach . Then go in house, cut & crimp 4,5 or 6 of them.
A Dremel sure makes paint prep easy per Applegate. A quick zip with the drill (9/16s), a few magical gestures with the rotary tool, and DONE.
The pieces I attached to jump the Peterbilt door hinges made a difference.
FWIW, I figure (60) needed for the Dodge. May not come close . . but I’d hate to be on a roll and have to quit.
I plan to hear the echo of Recons dog having the left the room . . . yesterday.
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Im still trying to figure out how to bond the driveshaft.
And where the heck has Recon been? I kinda miss the old Jarhead.