‰  NOW 30 WPM  ‰   TEXT IS FROM JANUARY 2014 QST  PAGE 65‰

WATERFALL DISPLAY OF THE PASSBAND YOU CAN SEE KEY CLICKS ON THE CW SIGNAL.
I FIND A WATERFALL DISPLAY MUCH MORE USEFUL.  IT DISPLAYS THE FREQUENCY
SPECTRUM AS A FUNCTION OF TIME, SO YOU SEE WHAT HAS HAPPENED ON THE BAND
FOR THE PAST FEW SECONDS OR, PERHAPS, A MINUTE OR TWO, DEPENDING ON THE
SETTING.  THE DISPLAY CONSTANTLY UPDATES, WITH THE OLDER DATA MOVING DOWN
AND FALLING OFF THE BOTTOM, LIKE A WATERFALL.  WEAK SIGNALS MAY FADE UP AND
DOWN, BUT THE WATERFALL CATCHES THE UP AND ALLOWS YOU TO TUNE IN THE
SIGNAL.  MICROWAVE SIGNALS MAY ALSO BE OFF FREQUENCY AND SUFFER FROM DRIFT,
PARTICULARLY ON THE HIGHER BANDS.  ROVER STATIONS CAN HAVE SERIOUS DRIFT
WHEN THE EQUIPMENT IS FIRST TURNED ON AT A NEW LOCATION.  FIGURE 2 SHOWS A
24 GHZ SIGNAL DURING THE 2013 10 GHZ AND UP CONTEST.  THIS SIGNAL FIRST
APPEARED AS A VERY FAINT LINE DRIFTING ACROSS THE UPPER WATERFALL DISPLAY.
IT WAS TOO WEAK TO COPY, BUT ONCE I FOUND IT, WE WERE EACH ABLE TO PEAK OUR
ANTENNAS USING THE PASSBAND WATERFALL DISPLAY IN THE LOWER RIGHT TO TRACK
THE DRIFT AND KEEP THE SIGNAL TUNED IN.  THE BANDSCOPE DISPLAY IS ALSO
VALUABLE FOR INTERMITTENT PROPAGATION, SUCH AS RAINSCATTER FROM A SMALL,
‰  END OF 30 WPM TEXT  ‰  QST DE W1AW  ƒ