TO: ALL WEST VIRGINIA ARES MEMBERS (OFFICIAL)
ALL ARES AND NON-ARES AMATEURS ANYWHERE (INFORMATION)
FROM: KEN HARRIS WA8LLM WV SECTION EMERGENCY COORDINATOR
WOOD COUNTY EMERGENCY COMMUNICATIONS INCORPORATED
WV ARES BULLETIN NR 08.49 DATE: December 7, 2008
SUBJECT: NOT ALWAYS THE BEST QUALITY
Audio being recorded or repeated may not always be the best. Audio quality that has been received, processed in some way, and then sent back out will not be perfect. Any time audio sounds have been received or recorded lose some of their frequency response and may not sound exactly the same as if you heard them in person. The problem gets worse if the equipment being used is not designed to process all frequencies as they were made.
High fidelity recording equipment gives the best reproduction of sounds and voices that are being made, but that isn't always possible when working with two-way radio voice repeaters. If you want high quality sound being reproduced, you need expensive well designed equipment.
To degrade audio quality even more is to add noise or other background sounds to the audio. This can be in the form of weak signals, static, clicking relays, and background hum. When audio is being re-transmitted through a voice repeater, all of these things can degrade the voice signals that are being processed.
The problem even gets worse when the received voice audio has been recorded, such as a simplex repeater, and then re- transmitted. Most simplex repeater systems record the received audio into a digital format onto a memory processing chip. Unless the digital processing of the audio is high quality, the recording will lose some of the frequency response. If the simplex repeater controller is used on a cheap transceiver, which doesn't have good quality sound from the receiver, then the audio going to the simplex controller won't get any better.
When the simplex controller re-transmits the information that it received and recorded, the audio quality will not be as good as if it were heard the first time. But, when it comes to having a communication system that's needed in an emergency or a hurry, then the loss of a little quality can be tolerated, as long as the information gets through without causing mistakes. But always remember, that if in doubt about any information you hear, always ask for a repeat, it's better to be safe than sorry.
Ken Harris WA8LLM
Wood County WV
WV ARES Section Emergency Coordinator
WV ARES District 3 Emergency Coordinator