N7CAL.COM is a website dedicated to the art of ESSB. It is a mode that brings out the best in audio quality and at times, the worst in ham controversy. Here at N7CAL.COM I will endeavour to explain my journey through this realm of the hobby. I will describe all the things that I have done wrong and how I came to the current configuration of my station.



     N7CAL.COM Features
  • Equipment used in my current station
  • Wide with Pride, the common mode
  • RF issues
  • Graphs and MP3's
  • Links to the best ESSB sites on the net
  • Contact info
      Thanks to all the international visitors. If you like the site please send me a note Email me


ESSB Intoduction

This aspect of the amateur radio hobby has been met with both great enthusiasm and disdain. Here in these pages I will endeavour to do two things. First: describe my journey through this aspect of the hobby and secondly: To point out the paradox in the controversy surrounding ESSB.

First let me start by qualifying my experience and my level of expertise as it were. I have neither. I am simply an amateur who has followed the path of least resistance laid down by all those before me. I know just enough to have gotten myself into trouble in this hobby with RF issues and horrible sounding audio. As of late I have reached a point where I am FINALLY excited about the sound I have achieved and have been told by those who have known me and experienced my journey that my sound is getting there. And it is a certain sound that I am searching for. My own sound, not that of another, but my own sound. There are guys in this hobby who's sound I really admire, but I don't want to sound like them actually. I want my own sound. I have learned enough about ESSB and the gear used to know that I had better have a sound in mind and I had better understand the equipment used to achieve that sound. I went the way of just throwing gear at a radio thinking that it would sound good. It didn't and I wasted time, money and patience trying to get junk to work like gold..... it doesn't work that way,, for me!

SO, WHY ESSB?

For me it is a simple answer: What's next? Early on in the hobby there became this common phrase "That smooth Kenwood audio". That phrase has become part of the ham lexicon and it has been widely accepted that Kenwood and then Icom have tried to produce rigs that were more pleasing to listen to. And in today's radios, compression and equalization are becoming standard. So in that lineage the answer to the question of what's next should be apparent to all. And in the progression of amateur radio in general the question of what's next has been the driving force of the hobby as a whole. As you look back at the history of the hobby when guys were digging through the junk drawer and building things that didn't exist, simply to advance the operation of their station, then how is it that advancing the hobby in this way is met with such disdain? Now, it's too easy to say here that a narrow bandwidth equals a narrow mind, but I think it's more than that. I think that if you are interested in ESSB it falls on your shoulders to accept the mantel of responsibility to be an ambassador for the hobby in general as well as for ESSB. Moreover it falls on all of our shoulders to do our best to legitimize ESSB to the point where the ARRL will actually begin to write about it in QST.

To me it does not make sense that in a hobby where experimentation is the driving force that this aspect of amateur experimentation is so completely ignored by the organization that many of us pay money to. Its as if we were members of the NRA but are not recognized because of the particular gun we shoot. We must find a way to legitimize ESSB and make it a topic of conversation in the community at large.

I hope you enjoy my little site. As of yet there is not much here. If you want some really good indepth information please visit John's Site, NU9N.com and WZ5Q.net

Here is the latest in the Tube line of equipment. The Studio Projects T3 Tube condenser Microphone. This mic has great response and texture when transmiting a wider bandwidth.
The other end of the gear includes some tube gear that really has a high quality effect to my sound is the Bellari 533 Compressor/Pre-amp with Exciter, the 562 Tube Sonic Excter and the HHB Radius 20 EQ. These 3 pieces are the cornerstone of a great sound. The Aphex 622 handles the gating and the TC Electronic Triple C multi band compressor allows an exacting control to the final mix.
There is a new Blogspot on the web dedicated to eSSB. Ask questions and read info on all sorts of eSSB topics. Check out the Blog here
ENTER THE VMSDX!!

As of this day, 17, Feb, 2012 I now have in the shack, VMSDX #17

The VooDoo modified TS-950 SDX! Testing and tweaking to begin immediately and clips will follow soon there after, Stay Tuned!


Here's a clip of the VMSDX without any adjustments to the settings or set up from the VM MKV
Check out my latest YouTubes comedy