Here are some thoughts...
First, put the station in Manual Mode..,. Automatic will drive the gains up and down, and you can cycle in and out of interference.
Make Sure your antennas and amp are NOT near noise sources.... Make sure you have a good power supplly...
then...
With total manual… turn off the optional filters.
set gains to 10*10 H field, and 4*2 E field…\\
set thresholds at 100mv…
With NO signals present, check your noise levels… average.. touch up the gains so they're somewhere around 20-40mv… as close to 20 as possible perhaps… 40 is borderline.
We've two types of junk we're looking at… “always there”, and “Sporadic”…
Now, the “always”
adjust thresholds first, then / or gain for that channel so that the 'always' noise DOES NOT trigger a signal…and apply / save. Try to accommodate gains so that you can keep the standard threshold at 100MV if possible. You may then adjust it later on a specific channel… Now your 'ambient' always present sources shouldn't trigger anything… Call this Baseline #1
Then…
Ideally, you want to operate so that the WORST sporadic interference doesn't trigger a signal. You're still in absolute manual, withf the optional filters off. That should put you into 'ambient' operation Baseline #2… while doing this, keep your threshold at least twice what the ambient 'noise grass' (no signal) level may be.
If you have an obvious noise source at , say 150kHZ, you could adjust the optional filter to cut off at about 130-140 kHz… you'd monitor each channel, for a period of time, diurnally, weekends, etc… and gradually fine tune these settings…. Now, what you determine this week, may change in July… or November… simply because the total environment changes…
You WILL have junk, or nearby cells, that may at times create too many signals, or activate a temporary 'interference' situation.. the system is designed to do that… if they're temporary, great… accept it, and move on… leave stuff alone… Junk signals are ok… the server knows the difference… even if Impulse triggers, and the noise is sent… you just don't want Noise controlling your system… remember “lightning does the work”… You may no longer detect signals in California… so what??? We've other stations to do that… it's the 'NETWORK' doing what it's supposed to do…there's no 'competition' between stations… or shouldn't be… heh… every environment is different, at different times, and scenarios. Later on, you might experiment with Automatics… but you're going to be chasing ghosts if you operate that way while establishing you ambient operating baselines,… wasting your time, and peace of mind. Over the years I've experimented with the autos… and determined that in my environment they are basically worthless for consistent operation…. that is NOT true for many stations, but you may very well be a member of the “Cutty Sark Sailor Manual Mode Mob”…
First, put the station in Manual Mode..,. Automatic will drive the gains up and down, and you can cycle in and out of interference.
Make Sure your antennas and amp are NOT near noise sources.... Make sure you have a good power supplly...
then...
With total manual… turn off the optional filters.
set gains to 10*10 H field, and 4*2 E field…\\
set thresholds at 100mv…
With NO signals present, check your noise levels… average.. touch up the gains so they're somewhere around 20-40mv… as close to 20 as possible perhaps… 40 is borderline.
We've two types of junk we're looking at… “always there”, and “Sporadic”…
Now, the “always”
adjust thresholds first, then / or gain for that channel so that the 'always' noise DOES NOT trigger a signal…and apply / save. Try to accommodate gains so that you can keep the standard threshold at 100MV if possible. You may then adjust it later on a specific channel… Now your 'ambient' always present sources shouldn't trigger anything… Call this Baseline #1
Then…
Ideally, you want to operate so that the WORST sporadic interference doesn't trigger a signal. You're still in absolute manual, withf the optional filters off. That should put you into 'ambient' operation Baseline #2… while doing this, keep your threshold at least twice what the ambient 'noise grass' (no signal) level may be.
If you have an obvious noise source at , say 150kHZ, you could adjust the optional filter to cut off at about 130-140 kHz… you'd monitor each channel, for a period of time, diurnally, weekends, etc… and gradually fine tune these settings…. Now, what you determine this week, may change in July… or November… simply because the total environment changes…
You WILL have junk, or nearby cells, that may at times create too many signals, or activate a temporary 'interference' situation.. the system is designed to do that… if they're temporary, great… accept it, and move on… leave stuff alone… Junk signals are ok… the server knows the difference… even if Impulse triggers, and the noise is sent… you just don't want Noise controlling your system… remember “lightning does the work”… You may no longer detect signals in California… so what??? We've other stations to do that… it's the 'NETWORK' doing what it's supposed to do…there's no 'competition' between stations… or shouldn't be… heh… every environment is different, at different times, and scenarios. Later on, you might experiment with Automatics… but you're going to be chasing ghosts if you operate that way while establishing you ambient operating baselines,… wasting your time, and peace of mind. Over the years I've experimented with the autos… and determined that in my environment they are basically worthless for consistent operation…. that is NOT true for many stations, but you may very well be a member of the “Cutty Sark Sailor Manual Mode Mob”…
