‰  NOW 40 WPM  ‰  TEXT IS FROM AUGUST 2005 QST  PAGES 54, 55 AND 103  ‰

OF EITHER THE TFT DISPLAY OR THE ADDITIONAL METERS AND CONTROLS WITH THE
SMALL LCD PANEL AS IS OFFERED IN THE CONTEST MODEL.  SO HOWS IT WORK?  THIS
IS AN ADVANCED RADIO WITH A COMPREHENSIVE SET OF FEATURES AND HIGH
PERFORMANCE CAPABILITY AT EVERY TURN.  AS WE DID FOR THE IC 7800, WE
SELECTED SPECIALISTS ABLE TO BEST TEST PARTICULAR ASPECTS OF THE OPERATION
OF THIS EQUIPMENT.  THE INDIVIDUAL EVALUATORS WERE AS FOLLOWS DAVE SUMNER,
K1ZZ, ARRL CEO AND EXPERIENCED CONTEST OPERATOR, UNDERTOOK TO USE THE 9000D
IN THE CQ WORLD WIDE WPX CW WEEKEND TO DETERMINE HOW IT WOULD WORK DURING A
SERIOUS CW CONTEST.  STEVE FORD, WB8IMY, QST EDITOR AND PUBLICATIONS
MANAGER, OPERATED THE 9000D IN DIGITAL MODES INCLUDING THE ALESSANDRO VOLTA
RTTY CONTEST.  DENNIS MOTSCHENBACHER, K7BV, ARRL SALES AND MARKETING
MANAGER AND EXPERIENCED OPERATOR OF A SERIOUS 6 METER STATION, REPORTS ON
HOW THE 9000D FARED IN THE ARRL JUNE VHF CONTEST.  NORM FUSARO, W3IZ, ARRL
CLUB RELATIONS MANAGER, USED THE RADIO OVER THE NEW ENGLAND QSO PARTY
WEEKEND.  WITH THOSE FOLK DISCUSSING THE KEY OPERATING ENVIRONMENTS, I WILL
FOCUS ON THE EQUIPMENT FEATURES AND OPERATION.  RECEIVER PERFORMANCE A
‰  FROM PAGE 103  ‰
ISOMVE/335 IV3PRK/354 JA0GJJ/339 JA0SU/347 JA1DLX/330 JA1HOM/344 JA1JTR/337
JA1MJ/357 JA1QVR/332 JA2CXK/338 JA2EWE/335 JA2KSI/338 JA2MOG/334 JA2ZL/330
JA3EOP/344 JA3FGJ/341 JA5AUC/340 JA5BEN/335 JA5EN/351 JA5JGY/338 JA5PUL/340
‰  QST DE W1AW  ƒ
PRIMARY FOCUS OF THE FTDX9000 DESIGN TEAM WAS CLEARLY ON RECEIVER
PERFORMANCE, PERHAPS THE MOST CRITICAL FEATURE FOR SERIOUS DXERS AND
CONTESTERS.  IN SUMMARY, THIS MEANS THAT AN OPERATOR WILL WANT TO BE ABLE
TO RECEIVE A WEAK SIGNAL WITHOUT INTERFERENCE FROM ONE OR MORE STRONG
STATIONS VERY CLOSE IN FREQUENCY TO THE DESIRED STATION.  THE KEY
PARAMETERS THAT WE MEASURE TO GAIN AN UNDERSTANDING OF A RECEIVERS ABILITY
TO EXCEL IN THIS RESPECT ARE MDS MINIMUM DISCERNABLE SIGNAL, A MEASURE OF
HOW WEAK THE STATION CAN BE SO WE CAN HEAR IT SELECTIVITY, A MEASURE OF THE
BANDWIDTH AVAILABLE TO SEPARATE SIGNALS BDR BLOCKING DYNAMIC RANGE, A
MEASURE OF HOW MUCH STRONGER THAN THE MDS A SIGNAL MUST BE TO CAUSE THE
GAIN TO BE REDUCED, PERHAPS ELIMINATING THE WEAK SIGNAL AND, PERHAPS MOST
IMPORTANTLY IN A CONTEST IMD INTERMODULATION DISTORTION DYNAMIC RANGE, A
MEASURE OF HOW STRONG TWO NEARBY SIGNALS MUST BE TO GENERATE IMD PRODUCTS
THAT CAN MASK OUR SIGNAL.  ALL PARAMETERS ARE LISTED IN TABLE 1, WITH
‰  FROM PAGE 103  ‰
JA6BF/359 JA7AD/370 JA7ASD/334 JA7TQK/333 JA8KSD/338 JA8MKZ/341 JA9CG/343
JE3GEL/332 JE6TSP/327 JE7MQB/333 JF1PUW/337 JF2UPM/327 JG1FVZ/337

MARGIN AT 5 KHZ SPACING.  ADDITIONAL BDR AND IMD REJECTION CAN BE OBTAINED
BY CAREFUL TUNING OF THE VARIABLE RF OR TUNE PRESELECTOR AHEAD OF THE FIRST
MIXER.  THIS CAN REDUCE THE LEVEL OF A STRONG NEARBY SIGNAL.  HOWEVER, IT
IS MOST EFFECTIVE AT REJECTING SIGNALS M
‰  FROM PAGE 103  ‰
K3GGN/330 K3JT/335 K3SW/335 K4BM/343 K4QD/331 K4RO/333 K4RPK/367 K4WA/327
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