"Smart" Squelch for SSB

Editor's Note: W9MKV and W9YAN' s "Smart Squelch" overwhelmed the competition to win the first 73 Magazine Hom.Brew Contest. The
authors receiYed II $250 prize In addition to the normal article payment. You can build this trend-sett lrlg project; W9MKVoflers 8 PCboard
lor $7.00 and a complete parts kit is avail able from Radloklt, Box 411, Greenville NH 03048, lor $49.95. Congratulations to W9MKV and
W9YAN lor a Job well done.

Photo A. Squelch unit is attached to the right side o f the HF SSB transceiver. Rectangular
LEOs above the control knob indicate circuit status. (Photo by KA9FJSj
44 73Magazine August , 1982
frank S, Reid W9MKV
PO Box 528J
l o o m i n ~ l n IN 47401
David A Link W9VAN
21J Westt'l"n Drive
Bloom;ngt on IN 47401
T
his c ircuit detects the
human voice but ig-
nor es noise, steady tones,
and the Russi an woodpeck-
er HF radar pulses. It re-
quires no receiver modifica-
tion and works even when
voice signals are below the
noise leve l.
A squelch turns off re-
ceiver audio t o eli mi nate
annoying background noi se
when there is no signal.
Squelch circuits in AM and
FM receivers are carrier-op-
erated, On single sideband,
which has no c a rr ie r,
squelching i smore difficult.
Most SSB rigs with squelch,
e.g.. t he popular 2-meter
mult imode t ran sc e iver s,
use age (5-meter) voltage to
open squelch in SSB mode.
Age-operated squelch is ad-
equate for st rong signals on
relatively quiet channels.
Agc and VOX-type squelch-
es open for any noise or het-
e rodyne that exceeds a pre-
set level . Weak si gnals of-
ten are missed because the
thres hold mu st be set
above the noise level.
White noise sometimes
can ma ke you imagine t iny
voices in the noise, but it
won 't foo l the Sma rt
Squelch. Detect ing unread-
ably-weak signa ls is worth-
while if a change of anten-
na d ire ct ion or re ceiver
control settings will make
them usable.
The audio-ope rated
squelch ci rcuit described
here is simila r in principl e
to Motor ola' s "Consta nt Si-
ned" squelch, a di screte-
component ci rcuit with 22
transist or s.
Discriminating the
Human Voice
People normally speak
about three syll ables per
second. The squelch works
by detecting voice-band en-
ergy (500-3000 Hz) which is
varyi ng in frequency at a
rate of 0.5 to 3.25 Hz.
The circuit is a type of
FM detector. It is insensi-
tive to amplitude variations
throughout the range where
the input stage is not driven
to sa t uration but bac k-
grou nd noi se is st rong
enough to saturate the lim-
iter. The sque lc h wor ks
properly with most speaker-
level signals. You can con-
nect it di rect ly to the re-
ceiver's detector output.
adjust ing gain of input buff-
e r a mpli fer U1A as neces-
sary.
Performance
A rec e iver t un e d to
WWV provides a good
demonstration of the ci r-
cuit's capabi lities. Squelch
opens fo r voice announce-
ments and ignores the rest
of the transmissions.
The squelch can turn on
well within the first spoken
syllable. Speed of response
depends mostl y upon the
ri se-time of ac tive low-pass
filter U3A. The receiver is
mu ted one second af ter the
last voice detection. The
beginni ng of a steady tone
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Fig. 1. Schematic diagram.
opens the squelch only mo-
mentarily. l t opens i ntermi t-
tently on music . Response
to CW depends on code
speed and tone.
A si ngle squelch ci rcuit
can control mult iple receiv-
ers, unsquelching t hem a ll
when any receiver detects a
voice signal. (We like to
monitor HF ai rcraft and ma-
r ine frequencies plus 144.2
MHz-t he 2-meter sse
calling freque ncv.I
The sque lch is usefu l
when rf radiation from
computer systems over-
whelms the normal sq ue lch
in a VHF FM recei ver. It' s
a lso good for moni t oring
VHF/U HF mo b ile-te le-
phone c hanne ls in systems
where a co nst ant idle tone
is transmitted while no call
is in progress. The circuit
ha s other applications as a
" smart" VOX (voice-operat-
ed switc h) for t ransmi tters,
recorders, intercoms, secu-
rity systems, remote-base
syst ems, and repeater equip-
ment .
Circuit Description
U1A is a unity-gain sum-
ming ampl ifier, input buff-
e r. and low-pass filter with
3-kHz cutoff. U1A d rives
U1 8, a third-order high-pass
act ive filter with 3-d B cut-
off at 500 Hz. We chose
high-performance FET-in-
put operational amplifiers
so that act ive filters co uld
use high resista nces and
small capacitors. The n 084
quad o p-amp chip is eq uiv-
a lent t o the National lF357.
U1C and U1D are limi ter
amplifiers wit h a combined
gai n of 85 d B. U1D's output
is voice-band audio t urned
into consta nt-a mpl it ude
sq ua re waves. The sq ua re
waves t rigger CMOS mono-
stable multivibra tor U2.
Output of U2 is a train of
.33-mill iseco nd pulses. one
fo r each aud io cycle. The
average voltage of U2' s o ut-
put is proporti onal t o the in-
put frequency. U2 a nd t he
foll owing low-pass filte r
form a frequency-to-volt-
age converter, i.e., FM de-
tecto r, somewhat similar t o
a n auto mobile tachometer
ci rc ui t.
Active low-pass f ilt er
U3A cuts off at 3.25 Hz, t he
best compromise betwee n
nolse-fals ing and the rate at
whi ch people speak svll a-
bles.' Note t hat U3A has no
bias network even though
the amplifier use s a single-
polarity power supply. U2's
averaged pulses keep t he
out put of U3A at 5 t o &
volts with normal noi se in-
put from t he receiver. R1 7,
which sets U2's period. can
be va ried to keep U3A's qui-
escent out put voltage near
the cent er of its range.
On very quiet channel s
t here may not be e nough
pulse s from U2 to keep U3A
pro perl y biased. False de-
tects may occur as U3A's
output goes in and out of its
linear range. You can inject
extra noi se or low-level
t one into t he squelch ci r-
c uit's a uxiliary input to
achieve t he desired results
for your parti cul ar applica-
tion.
U3A's output is ac-co u-
pled to U3B. which a mpli-
fies with a gain of 2, and
thence t o U3C. a uni t y-ga in
invert er. U3B and U3C to-
gether fo rm a phase splitter
with a gain of 2. The phase
73 Magazine. August ,1982 45
splitter provides posmve-
going outputs for positive
and negative frequency de-
viations of the rece ive r
audio.
Comparators U4A and
U4B det ect t he rate-of-
cha nge-of-f req ue ncy sig-
nal s from t he phase-spl itter
outputs. If t he voltage at
t he inverting (-) input of
U4Aor U48 exceeds the ref-
erence voltage set by
squelch-threshold control
R30, then the low-goi ng lev-
el at the comparators' par-
alleled open-collector out-
puts disc ha rges C20
through R34 and D1 . The
disc ha rge time constant is
10 milliseconds. C20. R35.
and comparator U4C form
a time-delay circuit which
holds squelch open during
its one-second period. Each
detector output longer t han
10 milliseconds resets t he
ti mer for another one sec-
ond. R35 controls length of
delay.
U4C's output is t he
squelch-open signal (active
high). U4C turns on hystere-
s is-switc h transi st or Q1
(whic h li ghts LED2) and ac-
ti vates output-driver U4D.
As shown. U4D's output
goes high to unsquelch. We
used normally-closed relay
contacts so that the speaker
is enabled when the relay is
turned off or if power is re-
moved from the squelch
circuit. To reverse t he se nse
of t he output, excha nge t he
(+) and (-) inputs of U4D.
(J umpers are provided on
the PC board.) U4D's open-
col lector output can drive a
relay in the speaker lead, as
shown. or a gated amplifier,
analog gate, optoisolator.
or TTL or CMOS logic ci r-
cuit. The comparator out-
put can si nk 50 rnA max-
rmum.
The squelch is more sen-
sitive a fter opening than be-
fore. The se nsitivity change
is called hysteresis. With no
hysteresis, the squelch may
drop out while someone is
talki ng. If there is too much
hysteresis, squelch thresh-
old becomes hard to adjust
properly. Detector compar-
ators U4A and U4B have
two leve ls of hysteresis.
Positi ve-feed back res istor
R32 prevents comparator
oscillation and lowers the
threshold slightly during a

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Fig. 2. PC board (foil side).
48 73Magazine . August , 1982
Fig. J. Component layout
Photo B. Circuit board and chassis detail. The onl y external connections required are receiver audio, speaker, and
12 volts dc. (Photo by KA9F/5)
detect. Q1 conducts whil e
squelch is open, further re-
ducing the threshold volt-
age via R42 and 02. R42 de-
termines the amount of hys-
teresi s. The 100k value
shown for R42 provides
smooth squelch operation.
The ci rcui t uses 25-30 rnA
plus relay current. The
eight-volt-regulator IC, US,
should be used f or mobile
operation. Otherwi se, the
entire ci rcu it can run from a
well -regulated 12-volt sup-
pl y. (Omi t US and add a
jumper between input and
out put pins of US on the PC
board.)
Adjustment
LE01 l ights whenever t he
detector i s active. li sten to
a voice signal and adjust
the threshold cont rol until
LE01 bl inks for every spo-
ken syllabl e, then make fine
adj ust ment s as necessary
for noi se conditions. The
enable switch allows you to
adjust t he squelch before
activating t he rel ay and al-
lows you t o unsquel ch wi th-
out disturbing the threshold
setting. Sc ale markings
around the cont rol knob
make it easier to reset an of-
ten-used level .
Constructi on
All-new parts cost about
540, using referenced items
from Radio Shack and ECG.
Resourcefu l hams can build
2.7k 2
4.7k 4
6.8k 2
Sk, linearpot 1
10k 4
18k 1
47k 1
56' 1
68' s
l OOk 4
130k 3
150k 2
160k (see text) 1
300' 1
360' 2
1M 2
2.4M 1
42 @ $.08 ea. = $3.28
2 .10
3 1.29
1 2.99
1 1.49
1 .49
10.00
$40.85
Other
Ferrite beads
Miniature earphone jacks
Relay, tz-vott SPOT (AS 275-000)
Switch, miniature toggle SPST
Control knob
Hardware, PC board, chassis
PartsTot al
AS , R6", R7, AS, A2l
R25, R26,R39, R42
A22, A27,R28
A18-, nrs-
A17
A20
R12, A15
R3S, R37
A32
.12
.4'
.60
.30
.30
.30
.40
.40
Parts List
A11,A14
A9, Rl 0, R23, A24
R4",A3l
A30
R13, R16, A34, R36
A29
A40
A38
s
1.60
.99
2.38
2.00
$ 5.98
1.49
1.50
.99
.1'
.20
.10
.49
.49
Capacitors (All 20 V or more)
C12 68pF 1
ca. CS, C13 1000 pF 3
C7, C8 4700pF,5% 2
C6 0.047uF, 5% 1
C2 O.056uF 1
C10, Cl1 0.1 uF 2
C1S 0.22uF,S% 1
C14 0.47 uF, 5% 1
Cl , C4, C20,
e21 1uF, electrolyti c 4
C16 4.7 uF, non,polarlzed(RS272-998) 1
C18, C19 6uF, electrolytic 2
C9, C17 47uF,elactrolytic 2
Semiconductors
Ul ,U3 TL084CquadBIFET opamp 2
U2 C04047CMQS multiylbrator {ECG 4047) 1
U4 LM339quadcomparat or 1
U5 7808 a-vert regulator (opt ional - seetext) 1
01 2N2222 or equiv. emccn NPN transistor 1
01,02 lN9l4orequiY. silicondiode 2
D3 lN4002 0r equiY. slllcondiode 1
LEDl Red LED(rectangular) 1
LED2 Green LED(rectangular) 1
Resistors (All '/4 Watt; =5"10)
Rl,R2,R3,R33,A4l lk
48 73Magazine August , 1982

.."....."...
ElE(TRONICS
61 Lowell Road
Hudson, NH 03051
ca n be preset to precise fre-
quencies.
This ci rcuit can be a start-
ing point for many experi-
ments. You co uld, for exam-
ple, insert an analog delay
device between audio input
and output. If the delay
we re lo nge r t ha n t he
squelch response time, then
sq uelch would o pen before
t he fir st spoken sylla ble
reaches t he loudspeaker.
Digital techniques could
perform t he function of the
analog ci rcu it described
here. perhaps with improve-
ments such as adaptive
threshold and program-con-
trolled time constants. We
are experimenti ng wit h a
m i c r 0 p r o c e s sor-ba sed
voice detector which may
be the subject of a fut ure 73
art icle.
References
' Don lancaster, Active Filter
Cookbook, Howard W. Sams &
Co., Inc., 1975.
' Motorol a Micom HF SSBTrans-
ceiver Service Manual, 1975.
$S
ONLY
603-8835005
o 0 My Own Logo
CIRCLE ONE
R(>d Royal Blue llelley Green
LINE J
lint
LINE Z
Attracttve ana {).JratNe. Non Run t-rcoms Can u prPSS yOU( \ll"S5ilge
Hats Are One SIze F:ts All ... Mes!',
Conclusion
Alt hough squelch effec-
t iveness may dimini sh o n
very c rowded amat eur
bands, a sensitive, discr imi-
nating squelch is very use-
ful for net operations and
scheduled contacts, espe-
cially wit h modern digital-
ly-tuned rece ive rs which
Introduced and the talk of the Oayton Hamfest thetlll AttraetiV1l and
Durable CALL LETTER HATS Ire [ust the thing for Hamfests, Field
day, Contests and other Club Activities. Me ..... a,. printed by com
puter and can btl up to thr.. targelines or six small lines of copy. For
orders of 12 or mOfe hats deduct 10"" and the club or business logo :
will btl FREE" Phone oders shipped in one day , two days for special I
logo orders. Provide a good b&w copy of you logo. I
:------ ------ -----
I Name PTIon, I
I Address :
I S Up I
I City Ute I
: Ck 0 Money Order 0 Charge Card D' I
I Slgnltur e To Validat e Order Exp. Oltl I
l a OIlOEII 8U"lK ::c Add $2 To Total For Shipping Chl rges :
.I
t he ci rcuit for substantially
less.
We built several proto-
types on universal pri nted-
ci rcuit cards. The only criti-
cal area is U1, where high
limi ter-ampl ifier gain can
cause feedback osci llation
in some layouts . Keep com-
ponent lead s as short as
possible . Use 5% toleran ce
o r better for freque ncy-de-
termining components in
act ive filters. The Rad io
Shack rel ay' s fra me must
be insu lated from ground.
Mounting the re lay on a
rubber pad quiets its click-
ing and isolates it from vi-
bration.
S14.1l6
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50 73 Magazine. August, 1982