Heterodyning .........

[Horserod]

Well Guys, I have read the posts about quieting bows alot.  I've tried a bunch of different ways to do it over the years. I have(most the time) settled with silencers around 1/4 ways down from the string nock of my bows and it's pretty much done the trick for me.  However, every now and then I get a special "problem" bow that I just can't get quiet enough. A few posters here have offered the idea of "Heterodyning".  In short, it's a way of balancing oscillations the string makes to reduce noise.  It does "work" folks.  Now it doesn't work in every case and with every bow as I have found out with my experiments. But, I highly recommend if you have a special problem bow with noise give heterodyning a try.  It has worked for me with several of my bows that didn't respond to other solutions.  So thanks to the several guys who suggested it on this forum....Pheonixarcher was one, but, there were a couple other guys too.  Oh, yeah, it does look odd on the bow too!        Horserod

[David Mitchell]

So what is it?  :confused:

[Looper]

That's what I do when I go out to eat with my wife.

[eflanders]

Hetrodyning is placing the string silencers on the string in such a position that the one noise oscillation (say from the top half) of the string cancels out the other (bottom) half of the string. You will usually not get equal placement of the two string silencers with this method, but it has been proven to be the most effective regardless of the silencer material used or the type of string composition.

[WESTBROOK]

Sounded pretty complicated till I read Loopers post, makes sense now.  :D

[dhermon85]

Would u only have one silencer? Or would that just be silly

[Roger Norris]

I think he's just talking about silencer on your string in an un-even manner, sorta catching noise on the high and low of what could be described as an S. I have been doing that a long time, didn't know it had a name.

[David Mitchell]

Pictures???

[iohkus]

So is it all just experimentation, moving the silencers up and down?  :confused:

[njloco]

I tried doing a search under, Hetrodyning, and Loopers posts, nothing came up.

[Tater John]

http://tradgang.com/noncgi/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=1;t=125189;p=2#000015

Here's one

[Moots]

Yes, it worked well on my Mohawk Sparrowhawk and Wild Horse Creek Vision -- both mild R/D longbows.  And it did not work well on another R/D longbow I have.  I don't know why.

Divide the bow string in 1/4's and place the top silencer 1/4 from top. Then divide the bow string in thirds, and place the second silencer 1/3 from the bottom.

For example, with a 60 inch string, place the silencer 15" from top and 20" from bottom.

[xtrema312]

Kind of like the black widow recommendation for a set at 1/4 and a set at 1/3 to cover two different frequencies only just half of that to cancel the two vs. trying to quiet the two.  I will have to try it.  

I know once I got a used bow that was making an odd sound and had a bit of vibration in it.  I found that the silencers were not the same distance from the limb tips.  I set them the same and all was well. Based on that I know you can change things with differences in where they are set.  I don't think they were set specifically at 1/3 and 1/4 on that bow.

[njloco]

Thanks Tater John, ends up that is already what I do, just didn't know what it is called.

[Pheonixarcher]

Obviously, experimentation is king, and heterodyning will not likely work in every situation. I'm sure that the overall design, brace, tiller, nocking point, type of string, individual shooter's style, and split/three under will dictate the best string silencer position. But since I 'discovered' this technique, I have utilized it successfully on three long bows, and a recurve. All with different strings and strand counts, and different braces. It seems to work well for my set ups, and will likely work for some of yours. It does look a little strange at first, but is easy to get used to. I actually prefer the looks now over evenly spaced silencers.
Somewhere, there is a right up on the science behind it. It may have been here, another traditional website, or in traditional bowhunter magazine. It has been some time now since I first read it. It says something along the lines of having one silencer at the 1/4 cancels out the even number frequencies, while the other silencer at the 1/3 cancels out the odd number frequencies. Give it a try, if it doesn't work for you, you can always change it, or you might find that it works great, as I did.

[xtrema312]

Pheonixarcher

Are you shooting split of three under?  I have a bow that is very quiet split, but more noise than I would like three under.  I think I am going to go to 3 under and stick with it. I am wondering if the 1/4 and 1/3 works better one way than the other as to which us top and bottom. Only experimenting will really tell, but just curious what you may have found and how you shoot.

[magnus]

Interesting stuff. I like to tune a bow without silencers. Get it as quiet as possible with brace height. Then I add one silencer usually on top. Adjust to its sweet spot then add the lower one and adjust it to its sweet spot. Works good for me and yes they usually end up at different locations on the string. Same concept just longer to get there I guess.

[Pheonixarcher]

Extrema312
I shoot split and off the shelf on all my bows. I put the top at the 1/4, to keep it further away from face at full draw. Never tried the other way, maybe for three under that would be the ticket. Let us know if you try it, and how it works.

[JRY309]

I do it on my Dryad Orion with ACS RC limbs.You place the upper silencer at the 1/4 mark and the lower silencer at the 1/3 mark.Looks alittle funny but I feel it helps.I'm still playing around with it.

[S.C. Hunter]

Originally posted by looper:
That's what I do when I go out to eat with my wife.

Me too!  :D