Is a 2-tone IMD measurement possible with the tinySA Ultra?

I no longer have my old Siglent, Rigol or other spectrum analyzers I once had access to - the ones used (among other things) to measure IMD of SSB rigs.

But I do have everything else I need: 2-tone generator, directional coupler, fixed attenuators and a tinySA Ultra.

With Hans G0UPL making great progress in developing firmware that will allow SSB operation with QMX/QMX+ transceivers, I wanted to know if the tinySA Ultra will allow measurement of IMD.

Hans' method of SSB generation is unique and it will be interesting to see how the transmitter output looks compared to more traditional rigs.

The original tinySA does not have the resolution bandwidth needed to make IMD measurements, but the newer Ultra version, with 200 Hz minimum RBW, does.

My test subject was the KX2 on 20m phone.

(CE)SSB with the QMX+

Hans G0UPL posted the following:

I'm so happy. That's why I am writing this. CESSB works! I have recorded a 1-minute YouTube demo (Churchill's speech still) showing a QMX receiving QMX+ CESSB transmissions: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-vnJZ7-j6gc

I'm getting my mic ready!

When the CESSB-enabling firmware is released, the QMX+ will be a high-performing 6-160m CW/SSB/digital transceiver for $125. Truly amazing.

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If Ambrose Bierce had been a ham...

Ambrose on 20m phone in 1875

Ambrose Bierce was a Civil War veteran and a writer. His experiences at the Battle of Shiloh provided fodder and inspiration for numerous stories that would be written 25 years later, in the 1890's.

Most of these stories were written metaphorically, to capture the somber essence of war rather than its literal realities.

As such, they are dark, moody and macabre, with Bierce's writing often being compared to that of Poe.

His best-known story is Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge which, 70 years later, was made by Rod Serling into an episode of The Twilight Zone (you can watch that episode here).

Bierce's cynical wit (and refreshingly sardonic humor) can more quickly be discerned by a quick read of a few examples from his Devil's Dictionary:

• Acquaintance: A person whom we know well enough to borrow from, but not well enough to lend to.
• Circus: A place where horses, lions and elephants are permitted to see men, women and children acting foolishly.
• Conservative: A statesman who is enamored of existing evils, as distinguished from the Liberal, who wishes to replace them with others.
• Cynic: A blackguard whose faulty vision sees things as they are, not as they ought to be.
• Egotist: A person of low taste; therefore, more interested in himself than in me.
• Funeral: A pageant whereby we attest our respect for the dead by enriching their undertaker.
• Guillotine: A machine which makes a Frenchman shrug his shoulders, with good reason.
• Imagination: A warehouse of facts, with Poet and Liar in joint ownership.
• Marriage: A household consisting of a master, a mistress, and two slaves, making in all, two.
• Noise: A stench in the ear. The chief product of civilization.
• Religion: A daughter of Hope and Fear, explaining to Ignorance the nature of the Unknowable.

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If ham radio had existed during Bierce's time, these might have been his observations:

Video: A test of M0JKS's aftermarket mic for KX2/KX3 radios

Tom M7MCQ recently posted some interesting info on an aftermarket mic for Elecraft KX-series radios.

The mic was initially offered by Dave M0JKS as a kit but they now are sold completely built.

I ordered one the next day.

QRP rigs, pricing, and what's missing from most of them

A search of the mythical Ideal QRP Travel Rig For Vibration-Rich Environments has me, once again, pondering what's out there and coming to the same old conclusion:

That the Elecraft KX2 - manyyears (yes, one word) after its introduction - still has no peer. Eight years old now - a virtual eternity.

Like others, I watch the YouTube infomercials of the latest offerings, hoping to find my unicorn. But lately, rather than compelling me to open my wallet, they reaffirm the value of the radio released back in 2016.

Here's where I'm coming from vs. what's out there - a bit of a backstory (please bear with me):

Nine years ago, I rode most of the off-road motorcycle trail known as the TAT that stretched (at the time - it's longer now) from Tennessee to Oregon, on a single-cylinder Suzuki DR650. Single-cylinder bikes are often called "thumpers" for good reason. I made it to Utah before the obligations of still being employed called me home. That fact bugs me like you have no idea. I almost finished - but didn't.

I had two radios with me: an MTR-3 and an Elecraft KX2. Both performed admirably and survived single-cylinder vibration and the bike being dropped three times on Colorado's Ophir Pass.