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Reviews For: Autek Research QF-1A

Category: Filters, Audio: (DSP and others)

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Review Summary For : Autek Research QF-1A
Reviews: 34MSRP: No longer in production
Description:
SSB/CW/AM Audio & Notch Filter
Product is not in production
More Info:
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
15344.9
AK2A Rating: 2003-03-24
Cost effective Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
On CW,Ive compared this unit to 2 other analog and no less than 5 of the most popular dsp (including the most expensive) They all help but I like the QF1a the best.Im rigging up a relay switching arrangement to try to find out what speaker/rig/filter arrangement is best for weak-signal cw work.Will let the gang know what I come up with. It is also possible to use the QF1A in PARALLEL with another filter. I like the Idiom Press scaf-based low pass filter. gives the bi-noural cw feel much more than the all-in-one-box implementation. Just try to give your filters a good sounding, efficient speaker, eg. a 40 watt alarm horn. Be creative and experiment
N5XM Rating: 2001-12-09
It works! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I got my QF1A on the advice of a good friend who I consider a real expert on CW, and boy was he right. 35 bucks and a few days later it arrived, and at first the extra noise bothered me, but believe me, you get used to it. I usually just leave it on and most times, one of the settings allow a nothing signal to pop out of nowhere. Sometimes even on my Omni V, I will turn the Autek off just to see what happens, and a station I can easily copy with the filter on just goes away with the filter off. I think it's black magic, and I intend to find another one soon. Like some of the other stations, I use it in conjunction with my Timewave DSP-9, and between the Omni V, the Autek, and the Timewave, that's a lot of signal processing, and somehow it WORKS, which is the bottom line.
VE2XQQ Rating: 2001-07-27
ASP at its best!! Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I purchased this new, some 8 years ago for short wave listening. I have an ICOM 718 that will take the same DSP unit as the 706, but I won't be getting it with QF-1A around.
Analog Signal Processing is still very viable and quite effective!! If you really do want an outboard audio DSP wait for the W9GR in its 4th incarnation.

If you really want to play, get 2 QF-1a's and cascade them in series, or put them in parallel for multi notching and more knobs to twiddle than an octopus has tentacles!!
73's
K8AC Rating: 2001-02-02
A nice refinement to the Autek QF-1 Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Well, I previously rated the QF-1 a "5", based solely on performance. The QF-1A improves on the QF-1 in several ways, and I guess that makes it a 5+. Here are the most important improvements:

1. When you turn the unit off, it now bypasses the audio in to audio out, so you don't have to swap plugs around when not using the filter.

2. The Selectivity control operates much more smoothly than in the QF-1, meaning a less abrupt change in selectivity as the control is advanced.

3. There are now 2 notch filters, which can be used together, or you can use one notch filter while still using the peaking filter. While the notch filters are not automatic as in DSP units (you have to tune these by hand) they are very sharp and deep.

4. A highpass filter position has been added, so that you now have your choice of: Peak, Notch, Lowpass, Highpass.

5. The mechanical build quality is better than the QF-1. The QF-1 reminds me of a homebrew job when you look inside. That never affected the performance, however.

So, why would anyone want one of these old technology filters considering the DSP filters available today? In my opinion, there's no equal for pulling the very weak CW signals out of the noise, especially on 160. You can often go from "I think I can hear something in there" to "solid copy". Does the filter "ring"? You bet - and that appears to enhance the readability on the really weak ones. I have this filter in-line with my Timewave DSP-500zx, but use the Autek almost exclusively on CW these days. The best feature is today's price! I paid $35 for this mint condition unit and you can often find them for $30-40 even on eBay.

The only negative I've found is that the audio output jack is mono, and I replaced that with a stereo jack (hot leads wired together) so my stereo headphones work with it. There are times when the stereo soundstage of the Timewave (with latest ROM upgrade) is preferable, and then I have to unplug the QF-1A and plug the headphones directly into the Timewave.