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E8D05

SIGNALS AND EMISSIONS · Keying defects and overmodulation of digital signals; digital codes; spread spectrum

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What is the most common method of reducing key clicks?

  1. AIncrease keying waveform rise and fall times
  2. BInsert low-pass filters at the transmitter output
  3. CReduce keying waveform rise and fall times
  4. DInsert high-pass filters at the transmitter output
Why Key clicks are the wideband sidebands created when the CW envelope switches on and off too abruptly. The occupied bandwidth of a keyed signal depends on how fast the envelope changes, so shaping the envelope with a slower, smoother rise and fall (typically on the order of 5 milliseconds) confines the sidebands close to the carrier. This is done in the keying/shaping circuit, not after the final amplifier.
Watch out Low-pass or high-pass filters at the transmitter output only remove energy far from the carrier, such as harmonics; key-click sidebands sit within a few hundred hertz to a few kilohertz of the carrier and pass right through such filters. Shortening rise and fall times makes the clicks worse.
Softer keying edges, cleaner signal: slow the rise/fall (about 5 ms) to kill clicks. Filters can't fix what's next to the carrier.
HamSandwich explanation, first draft. The question and answers are the NCVEC text.
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The rest of E8D

  1. E8D01 Why are received spread spectrum signals resistant to interference?
  2. E8D02 What spread spectrum communications technique uses a high-speed binary bit stream to shift the phase of an RF…
  3. E8D03 Which describes spread spectrum frequency hopping?
  4. E8D04 What is the primary effect of extremely short rise or fall time on a CW signal?
  5. E8D05 What is the most common method of reducing key clicks?
  6. E8D06 What is the advantage of including parity bits in ASCII characters?
  7. E8D07 What is a common cause of overmodulation of AFSK signals?
  8. E8D08 What parameter evaluates distortion of an AFSK signal caused by excessive input audio levels?
  9. E8D09 What is considered an acceptable maximum IMD level for an idling PSK signal?
  10. E8D10 What are some of the differences between the Baudot digital code and ASCII?
  11. E8D11 What is one advantage of using ASCII code for data communications?
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