Sidetone etc. - DX-60

[Steve Harrison]

At 02:14 PM 6/5/99 MDT, Gabe Sellers wrote:
>> Does anyone know of a simple way to get a CW sidetone out of a DX-60 with a
>> straight key?
[snip]

>Ha!  I would like to know too.
[snip]

 >...Manning the receiver standby switch, I found that I
>had no sidetone when keying.  Not knowing better I called CQ anyway and
>got my first QSO with a guy in Long Island, NY.  I wonder how I sounded.

First off, guys, you need to understand that until the advent of the
transceivers such as the SB10x and KWM2s and fancier SSB/CW transmitters
such as the SB40x and 32Sx (and the Hammarlund and Hallicrafters
equivalents), sidetone was never needed: you simply monitored yourself on
your receiver by not muting it. During the late '50s/early '60s, however,
the manufacturers began including sidetone with SSB/CW transmitters
intended to be transceived with a companion receiver, and with transceivers
that included CW capability. Or at least, the more expensive transmitters,
the ones that CW enthusiasts considered *really* worth buying (my bias
unabasedly shows here :o)). It's possible that Morrow or other smaller
manufacturers might have included a CW sidetone with their AM/CW
transmitters, I wouldn't know as those units were basically before my time.

There were notable exceptions, of course: one that comes to mind, and which
always galled myself because I considered the radios to be much better than
anything else other than a Collins, were the Galaxy III and early V series.
To remedy their lack-of-forethought, WRL eventually made outboard lil black
boxes containing VOX units and CW audio filters and CW sidetone
oscillators. By that time, however, we "serious" CW ops had already
designed and built our very own CW sidetone and VOX units.

The Heath DX-series transmitters did NOT have sidetone oscillators,
primarily because they were NOT transceived with any receiver although one
could buy a receiver which essentially matched the cabinet and panel design
of the transmitter. None of the DX-series were originally designed for use
on SSB where pure convenience would dictate that you be able to transceive
with the companion receiver, although Heath eventually did market the SB-10
SSB adapter which could be connected to some of their earlier transmitters,
including the DX-100. But the SB-10 still did not allow full transceive
capability with any receiver, nor did it provide any additional CW
capabilities such as VOX keying or sidetone. Heath marketed a separate
little box to provide VOX for those early AM transmitters but it was not
intended to be used on CW, and so it, too, did not include a sidetone
oscillator. But you *could* build your own external sidetone oscillator and
use it to drive the VOX box which would provide you with semi-breakin
capability on the earlier transmitters/receivers.

So, with no sidetone, it was left to the User to develop his/her own method
of monitoring one's CW transmissions. This was normally no problem; you
simply didn't mute your receiver. But of course, some folks can't stand to
hear what they actually sound like when their receiver is overloaded so
badly by the close proximity to their transmitter; so some folks designed
and built their own sidetone oscillators, or bought such devices from the
outside market, or even used keyers which had internal sidetone oscillators
and internal little, tiny, really-crummy-sounding speakers. Folks using
actual keys or bugs, which never came supplied with sidetone oscillators,
were simply outta luck and had to monitor their fists the hard way, or make
something.

So, the answer to the question posed by both of you guys is you have to
either monitor yourself on your receivers, or you have to make something
up. The ARRL HBs are (were??) chock-full of simple, easy-to-build devices
of that type (as were many issues of 73 Magazine which, in those days, was
a really valuable technical resource largely because its editor-in-chief, a
really fantastically-talented technical guy known as Jim Fisk, WA6SBO, who
later became editor-in-chief of Ham Radio Magazine, was at the helm); and
if you do some research, you will find a number of different ways to
generate a sidetone by which to monitor yourself. Some of them will
actually be useful with headphones, believe it or not! :o))

73, Steve K0XP

P.S. Carefully read the manuals with your transmitters; NOWHERE will the
manuals mention that a sidetone oscillator is included within the circuitry
of your transmitter. The manual MAY mention that an EXTERNAL sidetone
oscillator is necessary if you don't want to leave your RX unmuted.

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