How’s My Audio?

This article is for the new ham who likes to work phone but is uncertain of how to set up a radio’s audio controls, and for the seasoned operator who may be unaware of the quality of his or her transmitted audio. This piece addresses the problem of poor “transmit audio” and what to do about it.

Let’s focus on stations with distorted audio. Single-sideband (SSB) transmitters whose audio controls are not properly set may contribute to on-theair interference such as splatter, blasting audio, distorted audio, or even weak and feeble audio.

I (K5KG) usually avoid phone contests, but I recently worked the ARRL DX phone contest, and found it to be a mixture of both fun and frustration. What made it fun were the exciting, fast runs and being able to give quick hellos to friends who called in. Although I much prefer CW contests, I do find phone contests to be more “personable.” On the downside, what can make phone contests agonizing and tiring is splatter from adjacent stations, distorted or blasting audio, stations with weak audio, stations calling