Years ago I talked to the west coast director of the Johnny Cash Show. He told me that the sound engineers had noted something unique about Cash's voice. It had an incredibly penetrating quality. They could set the volume level for his mike lower than they could for any other performer. Perhaps someone could find out what was so special about his voice and give us voice processing to make ours much the same.
Max-out 2500 Hz, mild boost around 800 Hz, -6 dB around 200 Hz. Use 18 dB/octave high-cut filter around 2700 Hz. Like someone said, squeeze into 300-2700 space to increase power/bandwidth. Alternatively, use a falsetto voice like a YL, and when everyone clears out of the way, use your normal voice (LOL). 😁
Peter, your voice isn't bland, it's quite soothing. In fact it, er, um...zzzzzzzzzzzz..........kidding! Good point about compression. You can even run a bit while rag-chewing, fools the receiving station into thinking you are running much more power than you actually are.
Bass down, mild treble boost, 2/3 - 3/4 on the mic gain for just a bit of ALC action, bring up the weak spots wi 10 or 12 dB compression. I need to listen on one of those remote SDR sites sometime, but I do get good reports back from the 7300 so far.
In the job the women operators were better heard than the men… because of the pitch of the female voice… recently I watched something from Bob Heil… he recommended as a start on the EQ to drop the bass -2 increase the treble +3 and raise the 2.5k control… he did an impressive demo… This video is excellent as usual Peter, I’m building a dedicated man hut in the garden and I’m not transmitting yet…coming back after almost 25yrs… I’ve learned a lot from your channel and you are very encouraging… good job… Thanks +10dB Best wishes to everyone. 73 ps… I’d like a valve amplifier about 300 | 400w …. Anyone recommendations?
Many thanks. Lower power Amps are available on used market. But as regards new, a 400w Amp probably costs almost as much to build as one having twice the power. Thanks for your support.
Very interesting, ur comments abt increasing one's "average" power; I certainly understand what ur saying, but for some reason, I've just never considerd how increasing THAT level would be beneficial🤔so thanks😃🇺🇸
I run Mic Gain at 95% on SSB, but only 10% on D-Star, per other operators' feedback. I love my IC-SM-50 Mic, Directional, and I don't have to hold it with arthritic hands, plus added a breath sock and it has its own gain, which I turn to about 50%. I also run power gain at 95%.
Great video but I have a question. I am a new Technician and I have watched many YT videos of Ham radio operators on HF SSB using the stock microphone. Why don’t they use a power microphone? Maybe they do but I don’t see it. I assume that you know what a pre-amplified microphone (power mic) is. If not, it is a microphone that has a circuit board in it, powered by a 9 vdc battery, and a volume knob, that amplifies your voice. The Astatic D-104 and many Turner microphones use this technology as well as others. Some of these microphones can be noise canceling and/or non-omnidirectional, which helps to cut out any background noises. I just read an article about AM and SSB. An AM frequency is 6000 Hz wide and contains a carrier and both the upper and lower side bands. USB and LSB are only 3000 Hz wide and omits the carrier. Back in the 70’s on CB (in the USA), I used pre-amplified (power) microphones both on AM and SSB. How does this help? Well, on CB there may be dozens of people talking at the same time on the same frequency. If you and I were about a mile apart and we both were talking on the same CB channel at the same time, you have a stock mic and I have a power mic, my signal would be heard above yours and at a longer distance. Getting back to Ham frequencies, HF SSB is also basically AM, although different frequencies than CB. I would think that the same holds true for the difference between a stock microphone and a pre-amplified power microphone. Wouldn’t you want to be heard better? The only thing I can think of is that many better brands of CB radios back in the 70’s had a mic gain knob in which you could adjust the stock microphone’s gain or volume. I think many modern day Ham radios have the same thing in which case, adding a power microphone may over drive the modulation and make you sound garbled. And I don’t know if current Ham radios could accept these types of microphones. What do you think?
A power microphone simply increases the drive level of your audio before it is fed into the limiter. This is the same as adjusting the "threshold" of the limiter. Also, in AM we use a fast acting limiter. By hitting the limiter harder (AM CB) you greatly increase the percentage of modulation. This is good up to a point, but can cause distortion if pushed too hard. On SSB that same limiter is used only to keep the SSB signal clear and not overdriven (splatter), so the engineers that design that circuit generally slow down the action of the limiter. By having a slower response, we no longer can use it to make the SSB louder, it only makes it more consistent. There are various other ways to make SSB very loud, but they are not as simple as audio compression as shown here. Audio processing is a science in itself. Broadcast stations use compressors that often cost tens of thousands of dollars to give them that "signature sound". The secret sauce is also a very closely guarded secret so that one station with an advanced engineering group can dominate the area with both volume and clarity above the rest. 73 and welcome to the hobby.
@@WECB640 Great explanation. That’s what ham radio is all about, learning. I guess radio technology has changed a lot since those days. I originally had a very simple 23 channel CB and it actually had crystals to control the frequencies. Nowadays it’s all IC chips and software driven. Thanks
Intelligibility is important it would seem to me, however, I’ve seen in some pileups that a female voice, or a young person‘s voice, which is in a higher key gets noticed. Just thinking out loud.
For those who are not audio engineers....when EQing your mic, remember that CUT is often a stronger tool than boost. I've seen far too many EQ's with some sliders up at +20db and the rest at 0db. Anything set to this extreme should tell you there is a problem. We have a saying in audio engineering.."garbage in, garbage out". What that means is if your microphone is junk, no amount of EQ or compression will make it sound correct. AKA "You can't make a silk purse from a sow's ear". 73
You are right, boost is often achieved by reducing adjacent band segments, although if the mic gain is post EQ there is no problem. Most ham rigs have reasonable mics these days.
These videos are always so organized, well presented , and practical.
Many thanks for the encouragement. 73 Peter
don't forget transmit bandwidth, squeeze the available power into a smaller bandwidth. Great vid Peter. 73.
Years ago I talked to the west coast director of the Johnny Cash Show. He told me that the sound engineers had noted something unique about Cash's voice. It had an incredibly penetrating quality. They could set the volume level for his mike lower than they could for any other performer. Perhaps someone could find out what was so special about his voice and give us voice processing to make ours much the same.
Max-out 2500 Hz, mild boost around 800 Hz, -6 dB around 200 Hz. Use 18 dB/octave high-cut filter around 2700 Hz. Like someone said, squeeze into 300-2700 space to increase power/bandwidth. Alternatively, use a falsetto voice like a YL, and when everyone clears out of the way, use your normal voice (LOL). 😁
Thanks. I think I will bypass the voice option!
Very good ideas , back to basics .
Peter, your voice isn't bland, it's quite soothing. In fact it, er, um...zzzzzzzzzzzz..........kidding! Good point about compression. You can even run a bit while rag-chewing, fools the receiving station into thinking you are running much more power than you actually are.
Ah well, maybe solution for insomnia.
Bass down, mild treble boost, 2/3 - 3/4 on the mic gain for just a bit of ALC action, bring up the weak spots wi 10 or 12 dB compression. I need to listen on one of those remote SDR sites sometime, but I do get good reports back from the 7300 so far.
Yes EQ is worth the effort but actual values depend on voice. A female voice suffers from bass cut and male generally benefits. Thanks for sharing.
Great info & insight...as always, 73 de WA4ELW in TN 🇺🇸 dit dit 😃
In the job the women operators were better heard than the men… because of the pitch of the female voice… recently I watched something from Bob Heil… he recommended as a start on the EQ to drop the bass -2 increase the treble +3 and raise the 2.5k control… he did an impressive demo…
This video is excellent as usual Peter, I’m building a dedicated man hut in the garden and I’m not transmitting yet…coming back after almost 25yrs… I’ve learned a lot from your channel and you are very encouraging… good job… Thanks +10dB
Best wishes to everyone.
73
ps… I’d like a valve amplifier about 300 | 400w …. Anyone recommendations?
Many thanks. Lower power Amps are available on used market. But as regards new, a 400w Amp probably costs almost as much to build as one having twice the power. Thanks for your support.
"...because of the pitch of the female voice…" On SSB, slightly adjust your transmit frequency, and you too can have a higher pitch voice.
Very interesting, ur comments abt increasing one's "average" power; I certainly understand what ur saying, but for some reason, I've just never considerd how increasing THAT level would be beneficial🤔so thanks😃🇺🇸
I run Mic Gain at 95% on SSB, but only 10% on D-Star, per other operators' feedback.
I love my IC-SM-50 Mic, Directional, and I don't have to hold it with arthritic hands, plus added a breath sock and it has its own gain, which I turn to about 50%. I also run power gain at 95%.
Many thanks for sharing.
Great video but I have a question. I am a new Technician and I have watched many YT videos of Ham radio operators on HF SSB using the stock microphone. Why don’t they use a power microphone? Maybe they do but I don’t see it.
I assume that you know what a pre-amplified microphone (power mic) is. If not, it is a microphone that has a circuit board in it, powered by a 9 vdc battery, and a volume knob, that amplifies your voice. The Astatic D-104 and many Turner microphones use this technology as well as others. Some of these microphones can be noise canceling and/or non-omnidirectional, which helps to cut out any background noises.
I just read an article about AM and SSB. An AM frequency is 6000 Hz wide and contains a carrier and both the upper and lower side bands. USB and LSB are only 3000 Hz wide and omits the carrier.
Back in the 70’s on CB (in the USA), I used pre-amplified (power) microphones both on AM and SSB. How does this help? Well, on CB there may be dozens of people talking at the same time on the same frequency. If you and I were about a mile apart and we both were talking on the same CB channel at the same time, you have a stock mic and I have a power mic, my signal would be heard above yours and at a longer distance.
Getting back to Ham frequencies, HF SSB is also basically AM, although different frequencies than CB. I would think that the same holds true for the difference between a stock microphone and a pre-amplified power microphone. Wouldn’t you want to be heard better?
The only thing I can think of is that many better brands of CB radios back in the 70’s had a mic gain knob in which you could adjust the stock microphone’s gain or volume. I think many modern day Ham radios have the same thing in which case, adding a power microphone may over drive the modulation and make you sound garbled. And I don’t know if current Ham radios could accept these types of microphones.
What do you think?
Some Ham Radio operators do use pre-amped base mics. The main advantage is hands free operation.
A power microphone simply increases the drive level of your audio before it is fed into the limiter. This is the same as adjusting the "threshold" of the limiter. Also, in AM we use a fast acting limiter. By hitting the limiter harder (AM CB) you greatly increase the percentage of modulation. This is good up to a point, but can cause distortion if pushed too hard. On SSB that same limiter is used only to keep the SSB signal clear and not overdriven (splatter), so the engineers that design that circuit generally slow down the action of the limiter. By having a slower response, we no longer can use it to make the SSB louder, it only makes it more consistent. There are various other ways to make SSB very loud, but they are not as simple as audio compression as shown here.
Audio processing is a science in itself. Broadcast stations use compressors that often cost tens of thousands of dollars to give them that "signature sound".
The secret sauce is also a very closely guarded secret so that one station with an advanced engineering group can dominate the area with both volume and clarity above the rest.
73 and welcome to the hobby.
@@WECB640 Great explanation. That’s what ham radio is all about, learning. I guess radio technology has changed a lot since those days. I originally had a very simple 23 channel CB and it actually had crystals to control the frequencies. Nowadays it’s all IC chips and software driven. Thanks
Also, Tune your antenna. Don't lose power to a high SWR.
Talking loudly does help on ssb. Yelling, not so much.
Intelligibility is important it would seem to me, however, I’ve seen in some pileups that a female voice, or a young person‘s voice, which is in a higher key gets noticed. Just thinking out loud.
Thanks for sharing.
I`m against the use of any amp, the fact the powers are giving us more power to use that even a bigger joke. thanks for your program.
Thanks for sharing. 73 Peter
I refuse to not use an amp. 😂
For those who are not audio engineers....when EQing your mic, remember that CUT is often a stronger tool than boost. I've seen far too many EQ's with some sliders up at +20db and the rest at 0db. Anything set to this extreme should tell you there is a problem. We have a saying in audio engineering.."garbage in, garbage out". What that means is if your microphone is junk, no amount of EQ or compression will make it sound correct. AKA "You can't make a silk purse from a sow's ear". 73
You are right, boost is often achieved by reducing adjacent band segments, although if the mic gain is post EQ there is no problem. Most ham rigs have reasonable mics these days.