They say confession is good for the soul. That is good, assuming I have a soul.
Anyway, I started that other thread about noise levels on 75m.
Well, I figured it ALL out.
First, the cause of my 30db over issue is my LED lights x 3 in our kitchen/dining room. Those lights are on a dimmer switch as well. As soon as I turn off the lights, the 30db drops back down to S9.
And here is where I feel like a complete idiot/boob/fool/insert your own term.
I started studying for my Extra recently using the KB6NOA (Gordon West) audio CDs. His section on amps was very enlightening. He demonstrated what impact an amp has on your signal. He also commented on the subject of pre-amps. He pointed out that pre-amps are nice for helping you dig out signals in the noise in that it boost the signal...but also boosts the noise level. I kinda knew that all along, but until he restarted it, I didn't put 2 and 2 together. My Icom IC7100 has 3 pre-amp settings...OFF, Pre-Amp 1 and Pre-Amp 2. When I first got the radio, I found that Pre-amp 2 worked really well....so I just left it there. I never really paid attention to the S meter until I started doing serious HF.
Well, as you'd expect, when I turn off the pre-amp, my signal level drops to S4-S5 at 75m.
GOOD GOD, DO I FEEL DUMB!
All I can say is, "Lesson learned". That is why I love being a ham...you never stop learning how much you don't know.
Thank you all for the help on this "problem" and feel free to chuckle at my expense.
Anyway, I started that other thread about noise levels on 75m.
Well, I figured it ALL out.
First, the cause of my 30db over issue is my LED lights x 3 in our kitchen/dining room. Those lights are on a dimmer switch as well. As soon as I turn off the lights, the 30db drops back down to S9.
And here is where I feel like a complete idiot/boob/fool/insert your own term.
I started studying for my Extra recently using the KB6NOA (Gordon West) audio CDs. His section on amps was very enlightening. He demonstrated what impact an amp has on your signal. He also commented on the subject of pre-amps. He pointed out that pre-amps are nice for helping you dig out signals in the noise in that it boost the signal...but also boosts the noise level. I kinda knew that all along, but until he restarted it, I didn't put 2 and 2 together. My Icom IC7100 has 3 pre-amp settings...OFF, Pre-Amp 1 and Pre-Amp 2. When I first got the radio, I found that Pre-amp 2 worked really well....so I just left it there. I never really paid attention to the S meter until I started doing serious HF.
Well, as you'd expect, when I turn off the pre-amp, my signal level drops to S4-S5 at 75m.
GOOD GOD, DO I FEEL DUMB!
All I can say is, "Lesson learned". That is why I love being a ham...you never stop learning how much you don't know.
Thank you all for the help on this "problem" and feel free to chuckle at my expense.