‰  NOW 40 WPM  ‰  TEXT IS FROM DECEMBER 2008 QST  PAGES 43, 44 AND 74  ‰

RADIO WITH PROFESSIONAL GRADE CHARACTERISTICS.  ALSO, YOURE PAYING FOR THE
BENEFITS OF CUTTING EDGE SDR PERFORMANCE WITH SOFTWARE THAT CAN ADAPT TO
CHANGING NEEDS.  THE PERSEUS YOU PURCHASE TODAY MAY BECOME A VERY DIFFERENT
RADIO A YEAR FROM NOW WITH MORE FEATURES
‰  FROM PAGE 74  ‰
VA Stamford ARA W1EE K1FC 726 2 32 2,958 CT Lakeland ARC K4LKL 560 2 25

EFFECT ON A RAPIDLY CHANGING SSB SIGNAL.  YOU CAN SELECT FROM 10, 20 AND 30
DB ATTENUATION LEVELS, WHICH IS USEFUL WHEN YOURE TUNING PARTICULARLY
STRONG SIGNALS.  YOU CAN ALSO ACTIVATE A FRONT END PRESELECTOR, AS WELL AS
A RECEIVE PREAMPLIFIER.  THE PREAMP ONLY HAS ABOUT 2 DB GAIN, SO ITS
CONTRIBUTION ISNT VERY NOTICEABLE.  YOU CERTAINLY HEAR THE EFFECTS OF THE
ATTENUATORS AS YOU SWITCH THEM IN AND OUT, BUT YOU DONT SEE THE EFFECTS
REFLECTED IN THE S METER, WHICH DISPLAYS THE ACTUAL RECEIVED SIGNAL LEVEL
REGARDLESS OF ATTENUATOR OR PREAMPLIFIER SELECTION.  THE RECEIVER CAN ALSO
BE SET TO DISPLAY THE RECEIVED SIGNAL LEVEL IN DBM, AND READINGS WERE
WITHIN 1 DB OF THE ARRL LABS CALIBRATED SIGNAL GENERATOR.  I USED THE
SPECTRAL SIGNAL DISPLAY DURING MOST OF MY TESTS.  HOWEVER, A COLORFUL
WATERFALL DISPLAY IS ALSO AVAILABLE FIGURE 5.  WHILE TUNING THROUGH A WIDE
SWATH OF SIGNALS WITH EITHER DISPLAY, IT WAS HANDY TO USE THE SOFTWARE
MARKER FUNCTION TO LABEL THE AMPLITUDES AND FREQUENCIES OF INTERESTING
‰  FROM PAGE 74  ‰
CT Orange Co ARC W2HO 945 2 65 3,300 ENY Orange Park ARC K4BT 872 2 53
3,238 NFL Alcorn Co ARES W4TX 631 2 40 3,236 MS Nixa AR N0A 731 2 28 3,210

ALTERNATIVELY, YOU CAN TRY YOUR HAND AT INSTALLING THE SOURCE CODE FOR THE
FREE DREAM SOFTWARE AT WWW. NSCHALL.  DE.  I CHOSE THE COMMERCIAL DRM
DECODER AND HAD TO USE THE VAC APPLICATION TO PORT THE AUDIO TO IT.  AFTER
SOME TWEAKING AND EXPERIMENTATION, I FINALLY ACHIEVED SUCCESS AS SHOWN IN
FIGURE 4.  IT IS AN ASTONISHING THING TO HEAR SUCH HIGH FIDELITY STEREO
AUDIO ON SHORTWAVE FREQUENCIES.  ENHANCED FEATURES THE PERSEUS SOFTWARE
PROVIDES SIGNAL PROCESSING CONTROL THROUGH A NUMBER OF ENHANCED FEATURES.
AGC LEVELS ARE SELECTABLE, OR THE AGC CAN BE DISABLED ENTIRELY.  THE NOISE
REDUCTION FUNCTION CAN BE SWITCHED ON AND THE LEVEL VARIED ACCORDINGLY.
UNLIKE SOME DSP NOISE REDUCTION APPLICATIONS THAT TEND TO CREATE A HOLLOW,
RINGING SOUND, THE PERSEUS VERSION IS PLEASANT TO THE EARS EVEN AT HIGH
NOISE REDUCTION LEVELS.  SPEAKING OF NOISE, THE PERSEUS ALSO OFFERS AN
IMPRESSIVE VARIABLE NOISE BLANKER.  THIS WORKED QUITE WELL, ALTHOUGH IT
TENDED TO INTRODUCE DISTORTION INTO SSB SIGNALS WHEN SET TO HIGH BLANKING
LEVELS.  SINCE IT IS ELIMINATING OR REDUCING SIGNAL SPIKES THAT REPRESENT
IMPULSE NOISE, ITS UNDERSTANDABLE THAT THE PERSEUS BLANKER WOULD HAVE THIS
‰  FROM PAGE 74  ‰
ARES NA4GC AJ4DV 859 2 30 3,452 NC San Fernando Valley ARC W6SD NN6RK 807 2
40 3,410 LAX Lake Area Radio Klub W0WTN 723 2 25 3,342 SD Alliance ARC
W8LKY 914 2 15 3,340 OH Eastern Connecticut ARA KZ1M K1MUJ 1004 2 26 3,322
‰  END OF 40 WPM TEXT  ‰  QST DE W1AW  ƒ