Wow! Look what came in the mail today!!!!

The Sotabeams Laserbeam-Vari  -   Variable Bandwidth Filter

Yippee!  I've been waiting a while for this little gem to show up, and now it is here.  The Sotabeams Laserbeam Vari is a variable bandwidth filter that is designed to give you control over your receive audio bandwidth and center frequency.  The instructions and specifications are found here 

Here it is!!!

Okay, so the filter is here, and you may be asking: "so why do you need an audio filter if all the modern radios have bandwidth and other fancy filters?"

A) Well, a lot of us, probably most of us have some rigs that don't have very advanced audio filtering.  For me, that is my K2 (and others).  My Elecraft K2, which is a really outstanding 10w radio came as a kit back in 2001 or so.  It has user customizable filters (actually 4 bandwidth choices), that the user can program.  I set up 1.5, 1.0, .50, and .30 bandwidth filters as my current choices.  

However, bandwidth alone is not the only issue, and here is where the Elecraft K2 needs a little assist.  The help I am talking about is he ability to shift the center frequency away from adjacent noise sources when I am listening to the K2.  The Sotabeams Laserbeam Vari should be very helpful with this issue, and so that is where the filter will hopefully prove itself worthy of the modest price tag of 37.46 British pounds.  If you buy it and ship it out of the UK, then there is NO EU TAX.

The Elecraft K2...one of the greatest kits ever made

I am going to build the little audio filter tonight, but in the meantime, it is really worthwhile to watch this excellent video on testing the Laserbeam-Vari.  This video convinced me to plunk down the cash to buy this filter.  Click here to watch the video.

I will try to let you know how it turns out and also post a pic of the filter in it's enclosure.  I am also wondering how this filter would work with my Collins KWM-2 radios and other older rigs...so stay tuned.  73 for now, Mark 4x1ks