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TheDaChicken- I understand your interest in getting things perfect. Are you in the USA? If so you are operating as a Part 15 station, and as a practical matter modulation level is not regulated. Adjust it to sound as you like and have fun broadcasting to nearby radios.
Yes, I am living in the US. Thank you for those words of encouragement even if it may not be perfect
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1. if you already have a sound card capable of generating 192KHz, make a simulation of what comes out of it. So connect the "mpx output" of the sound card directly to the line in (which must also be set to 192khz). I see that you are using the MPX tool, select the line in sound card as the source.
I have lots of sound cards capable of generating 192Khz. I've tried looking at what comes out by "line in" using mpxtool.
It's not too bad. It has no similar tilt like what comes out of PCS electronics Transmitter.
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2. Disconnect from the pcs8000 board all the cables except the display.
Improvise a cable that you will connect to the "audio input" pins on the transmitter board. Check if the preemphasis jumper is in the 0 position
You are probably not wrong about making a cable. Am not sure if that would change anything though. I've tried every "normal" input there is to that Transmitter.
I mean, it's dumb at this point that I spent $50 dollars (or even more I don't care at this point) for an "MPX Input board" with a USB that only does 97khz output.
Including another $50 ... for an input board without "MPX" labeled and ... another $50 for an "RDS" board (that I didn't need but came with the bundle) which makes the Transmitter turn off after 5 minutes. All of that crap sounds like I got scammed. Oh my lord.
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3. The transmitter MUST be either on dummy load or on an adequate antenna for VHFII during operation. Otherwise, you will have nasty parasitic interference on the equipment and in the RF spectrum.
Originally when I got this transmitter, I got an antenna from PCS Electronics. I've switched to that and another antenna with no change. According to PCS Electronics, "good antenna everything perfect" with what I got.
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4. Now test first the sine at 50Hz. In this test, normally the maximum deviations may be 5%. If the readings are higher (10-15%), the transmitter does not have a flat response, but this can be corrected if there is a sinusoidal shape on the reading. If you read irregular shapes, it means that the problem is with the transmitter modulator, and there is nothing you can do about it.
With my input to the transmitter, a "50hz sine" would be outside of the 200khz bandwidth. I have specifically a recording back when I had it in my room for easy-access while I was running a "50hz sine" from MicroMPX.
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6. I see that you have a problem with the frequency deviation on the SDR. It doesn't necessarily have to be a problem in the transmitter. If you use a dongle without a TCXO reference crystal, then the dongle itself has reception error in the range of a few kilohertz on VHFII (depending on the ambient temperature)
The SDR I have does infact have a TCXO. Hahaha *got em*
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7. If you're still looking for a good little fm exciter, hit nrg shop or duchrfshop with DIY kits.
Thanks for the recommendations!
I mean I hope I can get across how much crap word I had to deal with this. I don't want to say I've given up but I put it on the side for now.
I've gotten another FM transmitter since this post from "Aareff Transmitters." They provided good support - including sending a test run video from the CEO before sending it to me. It is not perfect. But it's a lot better than PCS Electronics.
After I received it and tested it, I didn't email support telling them how I felt with their transmitter due to "unmotivated" situation currently. I am not sure how they would reply.
At this point, I am waiting for the new StereoTool compressor design to see if the processed sound doesn't sound like dull
for the music I listen to.
I do feel like I have to express that I am not overcompressing which would cause that issue to happen because "it sounds dull". Anyway.