What do you do when, after at least 10 minutes on a frequency, a
voice comes back to your CQ and says "W5XD you're 10 K C wide!"?
I'm sure this is old hat for you big guns, but this can take a lot
of the fun out of contesting real quick for me.
In one case I was about 5 KHz below a net on 20m when it started up, and,
according to my accuser, the net coudn't be conducted with me there.
I kept up for a few more minutes, but a second station appeared with
the same sort of accusation--in both cases they were trying to be
polite, but lots of folks explode when I suggest the problem is on
their end. I asked how he measured this, and he said he was running
a TenTec Paragon. (I run a TenTec Omni V.) Anyway, I moved.
Afterwards I got a clean rating, both from a trustworthy local ham,
and from a borrowed HP spectrum analyzer. Forgotten the numbers,
but I think the line was about 70 dB down from the peak into a
1 KHz IF by 5 KHz away--all using a rubber ducky plugged into the
spectrum analyzer. Any RF guys know if that test setup has any
validity? I know a calibrated measurement would require a calibrated
1500W attenuator, but I didn't have one nor would I trust myself
to design and build one and plug into a $20K instrument I don't own.
In these cases I was running a homebrew 8877 at 1500W out.
And I always have the old SB-610 monitor scope on line.
And I have NEVER had any problem like this on CW--just SSB.
Wayne, W5XD
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