In the 7 Step Method of Tuning, which action constitutes Step 3?

• A. Adjust Brilliance to maximum position
• B. Set Suppressions to ZERO
• C. Adjust Gain to highest position
• D. Tune for maximum return

Answer: (C)

The action shown in Step 3 is to adjust the receiver gain to its maximum position to establish the system’s sensitivity. In tuning, you first set up the display and filtering parameters so the receiver is as receptive as possible to echoes. Increasing the gain makes even weak targets visible, giving you a baseline to judge signal strength and later refine other controls without missing faint returns. If you go to other adjustments first, like pushing brightness to the top or zeroing suppression, you risk washing out echoes or cluttering the display, which can mask true targets. After the gain is maximized, you can then proceed to balance the display (brilliance) and filtering (suppressions) and finally tune for the best overall return.