AM modulation monitor

[W9BHI]

Check this out  www.radioassociates.com.
They make a unit that uses a pc to monitor your modulation.
Any good?

Don W9BHI

[W1AEX]

It's beyond good! It's deluxe! I will have to admit that I do not have Steve's hardware yet, but I have run the software in demo mode and played back a couple of files that were emailed to me featuring my own signal. Quite a few guys here in the northeast are using the REA Amplitude Modulation Monitor and love it. I'm sure they will give you more substantial information about how it's working for them. If you don't have a scope this would be a must-have item. If you do have a scope, it might be time to move it to make room for this.

Rob W1AEX

[w1vtp]

I have serial #3, the first consumer purchased unit and it's indispensible for proper operation of my AM station.

Al

[steve_qix]

Hi Don,

There are approximately 50 units in the field as of this writing.  So far, everyone really, really likes the monitor   I have received a fair amount of unsolicited email from customers telling me how pleased they are with the product (I really appreciate the feedback, by the way!).

There is a full money back satisfaction guarantee.

I prefer this monitor to any I have used so far, and currently I have 3 modulation monitors running in the shack.

About half of the monitors in the field have gone to broadcast stations with the remainder to hams.  There is a low power AM interface under development which will allow the monitor to be used with 100mW part 15 equipment and without any direct connection to the transmitter.

The nice thing about a software display unit such as this, is that one can add all kinds of features without having to change hardware, re-layout boards, etc.

Regards,

Steve

[WA1MNQ]

Hi Don,
           I have one of these modulation monitors, serial 47 and it is really a great unit. I do have a Heathkit SB-614 station monitor scope here too, but the REA Modulation Monitor is SO much more when it comes to giving very useful information.

At a glance you see the percentage of positive to negative peaks, the negative peak flasher lights up at what set point you desire, I run at the default 99 percent and the positive peak flasher I run at thew default 125 percent.

My current rig is a DX-100 with a self powered external modulator running 811A triodes. If I had better Mic, and driver for the line level modulator it would easily drive more positive.

After using it, I consider it as a must have for the station.
Interesting also is that I tied in my very old second computer, a P3 running at 550 Mhz and only 394 megs of ram with Windows XP Pro and it still ran fine.
This is below the required spec the device spec sheet comes with but the monitor works nicely on the old computer so I set that old desktop at the operating position and leave this machine for the internet activity.

Before I had purchased my unit, I also had downloaded the software and played back recorded files containing my off the air audio together with the monitor data.
So when I played these back, I saw and heard it as if I had one actually live here.
The demo was as true as the actual one I have operating now.

In past broadcast jobs, I have had to work with the commercial mod monitors both AM and FM..setting the carrier input level was a critical factor.

With this REA unit, the working range of sample carrier level is quite wide and automatic. If you wish, you can mouse select the meter showing average ratio of positive to negative peaks or you can select the working carrier reference level / sample level.

If ever you have had to work with existing commercial mod monitors you get to think that I wish it would do this or not that.
It would seem that the REA designer must have been thinking the same thing when designing the REA modulation monitor.

This monitor is clearly well thought out, taking input from all needing one and those features were added. At a glance I see what I need to and the display has worked out the real numbers, saving study time otherwise spent at the scope for peak ratios.

The fact that large VU meters, Bar graphs and average positive to negative ratio meters are all there gives you the choice of what display type you like best. I use all of these in one easy view. It is feels very natural to watch my modulation status with this unit.

Once you operate with one, I do not think you will be happy without having this mod monitor as part of the system.
I also wish I had this unit available the last time I purchased a commercial unit for a commercial AM broadcast station.
This unit does so much more, it should set the standard for the AM broadcast monitor industry.

Regards,
Mike
WA1MNQ
 

[flintstone mop]

I gots one too. Serial 29?
It is not a CPU hog or software bloated.
I use it my WIN 7 computer with Power SDR on my Flex 1000. When I stomp on the PTT the monitor display pops up on screen. There is no lag in what I see, with the meters moving like the real hardware, and bar graphs showing pos and neg peaks. When I UN-key, the mod monitor minimizes in the system tray. I did not know with my wave form monitor O'scope, with RF pickup, that I was severely over modulating in the negative.
If you want to monitor the real audio from your TX just plug an amp and speakers into the audio out jack on the USB interface box.
Fred

[WB2EMS]

I love mine!

I don't know what serial number it is, but it only took a few moments with it to realize that my settings on the Flex 5000 were not optimal and start making improvements I could measure.

I love the scope function, and the positive and negative meters. I run it under XP on an old dual opteron machine that also hosts PowerSDR and both run fine. A great piece of kit.

[K1JJ]

I don't have the actual AMM-SD1 Monitor hardware and pick-off yet, but Steve sent me a special file of my recorded AM signal using his own new AM monitor off the air. I was transmitting on my old class E rig. (RIP)   I watched it on his software (in video) as if it were a real-time transmission.

It was very obvious what the proper audio polarity was when viewing his monitor.  When using my scope and power meter, it was much more difficult to tell which was correct. It depended on what voice frequencies I used.  But at times the monitor showed 140% positive and -95% negative. It was VERY obvious which was correct on the monitor.

I plan to add one here when the new rig is finished.  It will make a great addition to the HPSDR rig that already resides on the station laptop.

The pop-up window during transmission is a nice feature enabling one to focus on the SDR receiver window until the TX PTT is hit.

I also look forward to interfacing it directly into the SDR receiver to be able to give out on-air reports to others - much like what Steve did for me.  This will require a custom interface to the correct receiver I.F.    Steve says he is working on this option.  

What's not to like for $199.950000 plus future accessories?   Plus upgrades are done in software.

It will be interesting to see how this product eventually turns out in the marketplace. Maybe we see Steve soon with big yacht and pletty girls?

T

[KA2DZT]

Big yacht maybe, pletty girls, not so sure.  His wife will have something to say about that.

[w8fax]

Where can you download the software from??? I don't see any link on the home page......but I have been known not to be able to find a shirt in the closet....AL/W8FAX

[WA2OLZ]

No yacht or pretty girls here ... but.... I did just order one of Steve's super whiz-bang do-it-all AM modulation monitors! Now maybe I can finally get my audio out set properly.

Thanks for making it all available, Steve.

73
Jack
WA2OLZ


PS: DITTO:"Where can you download the software from??? I don't see any link on the home page......but I have been known not to be able to find a shirt in the closet....AL/W8FAX"
Good to know it's not just me, Al. My Google-fu is always lacking though 

[flintstone mop]

Where can you download the software from??? I don't see any link on the home page......but I have been known not to be able to find a shirt in the closet....AL/W8FAX

I do not think there is software involved. There may be firmware imbedded in a chip in the USB interface. The AM-monitor shows up in the Device manager as an audio device. All I had to do was to turn the virtual level control to MAX and it played. I needed some help on that from Steve. Some WIN 7 computers interpret devices differently and my 'puter turned that level control to MIN. Seems that XP machines do not screw with that adjustment.
Fred

[w1vtp]

Where can you download the software from??? I don't see any link on the home page......but I have been known not to be able to find a shirt in the closet....AL/W8FAX

I do not think there is software involved. There may be firmware imbedded in a chip in the USB interface. The AM-monitor shows up in the Device manager as an audio device. All I had to do was to turn the virtual level control to MAX and it played. I needed some help on that from Steve. Some WIN 7 computers interpret devices differently and my 'puter turned that level control to MIN. Seems that XP machines do not screw with that adjustment.
Fred

There is software involved - at least for the computer version.  Steve has the link.  Dunno about any hardware version - I have the software version that shows up on my Power SDR screen when I xmit

Al

[steve_qix]

Hi Fred,

I think Fred meant the display software itself.  I will create a section for demos    I have the transcript of K1JJ and W1EAX and I think W2PHL was in there also -  I could use this as a demonstration.

[WA2OLZ]

The AM Modulation Meter arrived yesterday, was installed today on the Valiant and connected to the laptop with the provided USB connector. Yes, there is software required and it is downloaded from Steve's website.

I don't yet understand all of the nuances but ..... WOW! It is fantastic to finally have a visual representation of what my audio is all about. I'm at least sure now that my audio was set waaaaay to low. More to follow.
73
Jack
WA2OLZ

PS: Steve - nice job!

[nq5t]

I'd be standing in line to acquire this thing.  And I might even pay a premium as a penalty for being a luddite who has no MS products in my house.  If there were software compatible with OSX ... Well, you'd already have made a unit of gross margin on my purchase ..

As someone who abandoned anything from MS a long time ago, it's the usual story.  Just a friendly plea -- a set of cross platform libraries makes it pretty simple to take into account that not everyone has or even wants to have even a cheap and otherwise useless Windows something-or-other machine from 10 years ago running their ham shack ... and wouldn't waste their money on one.

But it sure looks like a nice product ....

[steve_qix]

Steve K1MV is running the monitor on his Mac using VMWare and Windows 7.  I can't tell you a lot more about it than that, but Steve says it works really well.

[WZ5Q]

Howdy Y'all,
Well, you could say I have a severe case of "Digititus".
I don't like all the digital intrusion into the world of Analog, even though it's supposed to be "better" and "more efficient". The Analog way of things suits me just fine.  

That being said, for all Y'all that are upgrading to Steve's new Modulation Monitor, I would sure be in the market for the original Analog REA AMM-HF1. I have been looking for one of those for a long time.

Take Care,

[steve_qix]

Wouldn't that be digi-phobia     In this case, digital really is better.  The nice thing about the new monitor, is that the audio path within the monitor hardware is 100% analog - the audio output from the monitor hardware interface is analog.  The display path is digital, and with that you get a whole lot of features that would otherwise be unavailable, and of course the price is a lot less too.

[WZ5Q]

Some kind of digi-somethin! 

That's great news on the Audio Path Steve. 

The problem I have is I like Stand Alone units and don't like having to have to tie anything into a computer for it to function. I like the idea of the older Rack Mounted unit that has everything self contained.

[KB3WFV]

.......... the audio path within the monitor hardware is 100% analog - the audio output from the monitor hardware interface is analog.  The display path is digital,

The problem I have is I like Stand Alone units and don't like having to have to tie anything into a computer for it to function. I like the idea of the older Rack Mounted unit that has everything self contained.

This exchange caused me to wonder or should it be wander ? Can an interface be built to allow connection to a panel mounted meter? Perhaps an optional LED dual bar graph rack mounted display meter sold at an additional cost would work. This would bring the best of both worlds together. The mod monitor in a digital world and the analog for those that are digitally resistive. One could choose to use one or the other or both if they like.


73
Btian
KB3WFV

[KB2WIG]

Btian,

Please, please, don't let your mind wander, it might not come back............


klc

[WZ5Q]

You know, when mine wandered off, it used to come back when I called it...

now it just laughs at me and does what it wants...

[KB3WFV]

Btian,

Please, please, don't let your mind wander, it might not come back............


klc

...... I have two kids and a Wife my mind was lost some time ago
if you don't believe me .... ask them 

KB3WFV

[W0BTU]

I don't have one of these, but do I need to hook up an oscilloscope again, primarily to monitor the AM and CW output from my new 833 linear amp. Maybe someone can give me some advice.

I used to have a scope tuner directly connected to the vertical deflection plates on a cheap Heathkit IO-18 scope. It used a simple balanced link-coupled parallel tuned circuit and covered 80-10. Adjusting the variable capacitor to get the right amount of voltage across the tuned circuit (and the deflection plates) worked beautifully. I could do it that way again, but I am thinking of another design, something more broadband, that will also cover 160 with no adjustment. Has anyone ever used a broadband ferrite-core transformer to couple their KW output signal to their vertical deflection plates?