| NX8L |
Rating:      |
2011-07-18 | |
| Great Filter |
Time Owned: N.A. |
Hi Jeff,
I got the NS filter from you at Dayton. Finally sent my FT-2K to Byron in Tenn., for the Filter to be installed. He did a superb job and turn around was only 6 days. Not bad considering I did it over July 4th. He made suggestions how to ship and how to pack, as I had tossed my boxes never thinking I would mail the rig anywhere. He also gave suggestions how to get payment to him. My experience with Byron was excellent!
Radio plays so much better. Everything you said about the filter proved true.
Since then I purchased the DMU for this rig and now I not only hear the difference the NS Filter makes but I see it on the monitor.
Thanks for the help.
NX8L – Gary
Near Cincinnati
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| WC3O |
Rating:      |
2011-06-29 | |
| Great |
Time Owned: 3 to 6 months. |
| I wanted to wait a while before posting a report. The new filter is a major improvement over the stock. I really don't have strong signal issues at my house due to very humble antennas. I wish I did! hihi The RX is improved and the IF shift actually does something. I did the install myself. It is not for the faint at heart. It wasn't too bad and Jeff's instructions are very good. For me the worst part was cutting the trace. This stuff is SOOOO small and my eyes are for crap anymore. It is very scary knowing you are cutting on a multi-layer board, but I did it and all works well. Again, keep the exposed leads short. All went well and I am very happy with it. Thank you Jeff for all your work (Fixing what Yaesu missed the boat on) and it was a real pleasure meeting up with you and your buddy at Dayton. Best 73 DE WC3O |
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| W4UWC |
Rating:      |
2011-06-21 | |
| The NS filter is a great addition to a FT-2000 |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
| Recently I had the 3 KHZ NS roofing filter installed in my FT-2000. Now I am enjoying my 2000 like never before! The 3 KHZ vertical skirt filter was just what I was in need of and now those strong signals that often appeared broad now are no more than 3 KHZ on eack side. This is in the SSB mode. I don't think the 2K is now a 5K by any means but perhaps close. A down conversion radio is hard radio to beat. However I am very happy with my 2K now! |
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| K0XY |
Rating:      |
2011-06-02 | |
| ...the FT-950 and the NS Roofing Filter |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
...just received my FT-950 with the NS/AC0C Roofing Filter installed from Midwest Technical Services / Tim Moes...another Great Job by Tim...
...the 950's CW performance is enhanced...the filter provides an extra increment of "smoothness" to the overall CW operation and noise floor...nicely done !
...so, if you want your 950 to become a "top shelf" CW radio than the NS filter is an option you will want to consider...I did and I am pleased...K0XY |
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| AB3CX |
Rating:      |
2011-04-19 | |
| I Did It |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
| I just wanted to register in as another installer of the NS Filter for the FT-2000. I spent 2 1/2 hours doing it, as I wired it in backwards and then needed to reverse my coax connections. Probably a little more study of the photos would have saved me that. Degree of difficulty is medium high, but doable, you will definitely want bright light, a magnifying lens on an arm. I look forward to putting it to use. One quick observation is that you will probably want to readjust your AGC settings after installing it. My radio now seems to sound alot better in CW mode with slower AGC settings. Using my panadaptor SDR-IQ to asses the noise levels, I can immediately see that there is a lower loss through the NS filter than the stock 6 kHz filter. I'm unable to independenly verify the lab findings on the improvements in FT 2000 IMD performance. What I can say is I have already determined that the rig sounds alot better on CW and that the urge to use contour is decreasing rapidly. DNR seems quicker to settle in as settings are changed. Also, activating the pre amp on a noisy band like 40M no longer creates an immediate urge to shut it off again (ie AMP 1 and AMP 2 settings seem fine to use now, as opposed to IPO). The noise blanker got no better. I've used my FT-2000 basically since it came out. If you have blown the FT-2000 off for faults up to now, you might want to take another look at it, or spend 4-5K for something possibly marginally better. I dont know where you get a rig this good for $2k ($1700 used plus +$300 for the filter). |
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| N1FCJ |
Rating:      |
2011-04-17 | |
| Way better than the stock filter! |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
I'm pleased with the NS filter. I could hear no difference between the stock Yaesu 3KHz and 6KHz roofing filters. Now there is a significant difference when I switch to the NS filter. The sounds quality of the 3 KHz filter is similar to when I dial the IF width down to 2.8 KHz.
I tested for the 900KHz image problem others have experienced using a signal generator. I injected a signal offset by 900KHz and increased the level to S9 +30dB, then I cycled through the 3 filters. At 15KHz, I could hear the tone very loud but no meter reading. At 6 KHz, it was gone. At 3KHz, it was barely detectable. So in summary, the NS filter is not quite as good as the stock 6KHz filter at rejecting signals 900MHz away but way better than the stock 15KHz filter in my installation. Close in, it blows away the stock 3KHz filter though. I'm not sure why others have seen different results but I'm just reporting my observation. I have the uTune kit and when engaged, it completely wipes out the 900KHz signal at all filter settings.
I did keep unshielded leads very short (only about 1mm of exposed center conductor), which probably made my installation more difficult than some. As far as the install goes, it was not much fun. My close up vision isn't what it was when I was 20. I have to use a 10x eye loupe to inspect my work. At 10x, you must have your eye real close to the board and i could feel the heat of the soldering iron in my face. My lighted fluorescent magnifier was worthless for this job. A fine tipped soldering station is a must. I used 4 different tips for the install. I used the finest tips on my Hakko iron (0.2mm straight tip, 0.2mm 30° bent tip, a 1.2mm long chiseled tip & 3.2mm tip). The 3.2mm tip was used for soldering to the case. I'd also recommend getting a rosin flux pen for applying flux to the case. It makes soldering much easier. Also, be sure to clean all the flux off with alcohol when finished. I soldered the filter in two places to make sure it would stay put.
The hardest part of this install was removing the SMD resistor. It just would not come out. I had the iron cranked up to 850°F. When it finally came off, it slid across the board leaving a trail of tiny solder. I cleaned the board with alcohol and then was about to use a fine dental pick to scrape between the traces until I looked at it under the loupe and realized it was about 4 times wider than the space between the traces. Second was the T40 connection. There is not much room to get the iron in to solder it. That's where the bent tip came in handy. The coax that came with my kit looked finer than what was in the photos. Being Teflon jacketed, it was hard to hold with needle nose pliers or tweezers. It was rather slippery. But it was heat resistant, which is important with a cable so small. Bottom line is I had to hold it with my fingers, which made positioning it difficult. Be sure when you solder the input cable to the board that you align the cable parallel to the board (e.g. flat against the board) as the filter mounts directly over in. If it is sticking up, you may break the connection or peel the etch off the board. There is not much supporting that cable as the is no can nearby to solder the shield to.
It took a long time to get the filter and the job wasn't something I'd want to repeat but the end result is very good. Jeff also got right back with me when i had technical questions. |
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| K1FPV |
Rating:      |
2011-03-06 | |
| Big RX improvement ! |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
Just in the couple weeks I've had the filter installed, I've noticed these improvements in the receiver using the NS filter:
#1 RX background noise much less.
#2 With less noise, the Contour control seems more effective.
#3 With less noise, the DSP noise reduction is more effective.
#4 Less QRM from nearby strong stations.
#5 With less noise, using the RX for longer periods of time leaves you less tired.
#6 Weak stations seem to pop out of the noise much more than before.
The installation took between an 1:45 and 2 hours. It wasn't that difficult. Be sure to use VHF practices when installing the filter cables and you can't go wrong!
If I could give this filter a higher rating than 5/5, I surely would. This is a MUST DO modification for the FT-2000 or FT-2000D.
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| G4IDR |
Rating:      |
2011-03-03 | |
| excellent modification to F2000 |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
| Modified Rx with NS filter transforms a good rig into excellent. Significant benefit on CW as well as SSB. Worked great in ARRL contest. Width control also works better after mod. I am 2km from 200KW MW BC TX and no worse breakthrough issues after NS filter fitted than before...... keep those leads short. A wiring issue was quickly resolved by Jeff so fb e-mail support as well. |
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| JG1RVN |
Rating:      |
2011-02-25 | |
| Outstanding cost value |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
I tried the ARRL contest last weekend, using NS-filter.
My FT-2000D+NS-filter worked very well.
Quiet receiver background noise
Excellent IMD characteristics
I enjoyed ARRL international contest very much.
If the sensitivity is too high or too low,
after install NS filter, please try IF gain adjustment commands, at your own risk.
IF reciver gain can be varied for each ham band.
Thease are service manual PDF and adjustment commands textfile.
http://www.radioamateur.eu/schemi/FT2000_serv.pdf
http://web.ticino.com/wlog/ft2000/hiddenmenu.txt
Don't forget push menu button for 2sec, when you finished adjustment.
And you should write down original parameter before you try adjustment.
I hope you enjoy DX with FT-2000D+NS-filter.
Thank you.
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| PA7TWO |
Rating:      |
2011-02-20 | |
| The NS fillter is excellent! |
Time Owned: 3 to 6 months. |
I installed the NS filter as per Jeff's instructions and was done with the job in about an hours time. That is, reading the instructions in detail on how to mount the filter & parts took most of the time actually!
The instructions were clear and to the point and enabled me to do the installation myself.
When the filter was installed, a process that took about 20 minutes or so, It was time to perform the first tests. Listening to BC on just above 7.200MHz in AM with a signal strength of S9+40DB++ and next I tuned the receiver to just under 7.200MHz using LSB modulation.
Using the 15KHz and 6KHz filter massive inter-modulation was seen on the S-meter and audible via the speaker. However, when selecting the new NS filter no intermods were neither seen nor audible anymore. Instead, I was listening to 'band noise'! WOW what a difference!
Despite what is reflected here on eHam, my rig does not suffer from intermods 900KHz down from a strong BC signal. I performed the suggested tests numerous times on various bands and time after time I came to the same result: No intermods audible.
Conclusion: This NS filter is a fast improvement over the stock 3KHz roofing filter in the FT2000D and is well worth its money.
With regards to the NS installation: Keep every lead as short as possible and do not solder the coax to any other place then suggested in the instructions. Keep the inner conductor of the supplied coax as short as possible on both ends. So in other words, normal VHF mounting practice applies, but what else can you expect when installing a 70MHz filter?
If you wanna improve the filter capabilities on your FT2000(D) radio, this is the way to go!
Jeff a big thank you for all the hard work on this project. I hope that on one day you make a NS quality 3KHz filter available for the 2nd receiver as well?
Vy 73, de Kees - pa7two - m5two
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Earlier 5-star review posted by PA7TWO on 2010-11-24
I've ordered the NS filter by Jeff and after installing I've performed a few quick tests. One outcome of the tests was so impressive that I would like to share the findings with you here on eham.
About the installation itself:
Make sure your solder-gun has enough heat to melt quickly the lead-free solder joints / points. First remove the existing solder points, next use ordinary lead solder to mount the parts. Use magnifiers and a good light source, as certain connection / components are pretty tiny, size wise.
My findings:
I tuned the FT2000D to 7.199MHz, IPO switched ON, during evening hours. BC stations in general are S9+40-60 here in this part of Europe. While selecting the stock 12KHz filter, I was observing a S-meter movement of up to S9+40DB and massive intermods came from the speaker. Next test was selecting the stock 6KHz filter on the FT2000D, which resulted in still S9++ signals and massive intermods.
Next it was time to select the new NS 2.3KHz wide roofing filter. Result was a stunning S0 signal strength on the S-meter and just normal 7MHz band noise! This is not an improvement, no, it is a very LARGE improvement on the stock filter characteristics. Superb.
End-result:
Finally the FT2000D is usable in contests and under good band conditions without the hassle of hearing the intermods all the time. Sure I need to get used to the very tight 2.3KHz filter, but that will just be a matter of time.
Jeff is looking into possibilities for the Sub-receiver stock filter replacement too, something I am looking forward to.
I've uploaded photos to the Yahoo reflector site. (FT2000_New).
Vy 73, de Kees – pa7two - m5two |
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