Apache Labs ANDROMEDA ANAN-7000DLE MKII - Page 28

ANDROMEDAManual Page28of56
WhileoperatingQSK,thesidetonelevelbecomestiedtothemonitorlevel,whichcanbesetinthe
Menu>Setup>Transmit,monitorsub‐panel,withthecontrollabelled"TXAF".Sinceitisaseparate
controlfromthereceiveraudio,thesidetonecanbeadjustedtobelouderorsofterthanthereceive
audioaccordingtopreference.ThesettingremainsineffectuntilQSKisdisabled,atwhichtimeit
returnstoitspreviousvalue.TXAFlevelswillthenswitchbackandforthbetweenthe
QSKandnon‐
QSKsettingdependingonthestateoftheQSKbutton.
WithQSKenabledyourownsignalisheardinthereceiverwhiletransmitting.Whenoperatingwitha
singleVFO(i.e.notsplit)thetoneheardisidenticaltotheCWpitchsetting,sincethatdetermines
thetransmitter
offsetin CWwhenintranceivemode.Dependingonthesidetonevolume,itmaybe
possibletodistinguishbetweenthetwotonesduetoaslighttimedifferencebetweenthem.Ifthe
transmitfrequencyismovedslightlyawayfromitstransceiveroffset,eitherbychangingRIT/XITor
tuningthetransmitteroff
frequencyabitusingsplitmode,bothtoneswillbeclearlyheardat
differentfrequencies.
YouwillwanttoexperimentwiththeCustom‐modeAGCsettingstotailorQSKbehaviourtoyour
liking.ThisisdonebyactivatingQSK,thengoingintoMenu>Settings>DSP>AGC/ALC.The
AGC
settingsareontheleft.Thefollowingsettingsareagoodstartingplace:
 Slope5
 MaxGain100
 Decay1
 Hang12.

AdditionalQSKOperatingNotes:
1. Althoughsemi‐break‐incanbemanuallyenabledwithadelayof0withoutQSK,thisresults
insomething
lessthantrueQSK.ItwillworkbutnothingwillbeaudiblebetweenCW
elementsunlesssendingveryslowly.ThenewQSKmodemakesuseoftheAGCCustom
modesettingandincreasestheAGChangthresholdtoahighenoughvaluesothatAGChang
doesn'tblankoutthereceiver
betweenCWelements.
2. Thekey‐downdelay(Menu>Setup>General>Options)isnowlimitedtopermitasetting
noshorterthan7mstoensureacleanCWsignal.Settingitlowerthanthiswouldcausekey
clickstobetransmittedduetokeyingtheCWsignalbeforetherelayshavefullyengaged.
Thisisnothealthyfortherelays,andotheroperatorsonthebandwillnotappreciatethe

resultingkeyclicks thatareproduced,whichmayextendupanddownthebandfor10sof
KHz.Someexternalamplifiersmayalsoneedalongerdelay,althoughthissettingshould
workwithmost.Checkyouramplifier’smanualandtimingrequirementsbeforeusingits
QSKcapability.Intheotherdirection,
increasingkey‐downdelaylongerthanabout10ms
reducesthetimeavailabletohearsignalsbetweenCWelements,defeatingthepurposeof
QSK.Likewise,key‐updelayslongerthanafewmsisunnecessaryandyoulikelywillfindthat
theminimumof1msworksfine.
WheninQSK,theusual
cyclingoftheMOXfunctioninThetisdoesn'toccur.Asaresult,checkingfor
bandboundariesdoesn'thappenandwillnotpreventyoufromtransmittingoutofband.Use
caution!Preventionmaycomeinthenextrelease.