Dave,
Don't forget the very nice K1EA, PC expansion slot boards that worked
stupendously well with both CT and NA DOS logging programs.
When I purchased one of those it was like heaven to be in a SSB contest.
Since the recordings were done to the hard drive of the PC, space was
practically unlimited. It was a great tool to record off air and play back
to the originating station so he could hear what he sounded like at my
station.
73 and a great weekend to everyone.
de Milt, N5IA
-----Original Message-----
From: David Thompson
Sent: Friday, March 08, 2013 2:23 PM
To: CQ Contest
Cc: w5ew@comcast.net
Subject: [CQ-Contest] The History of automated voice for SSB Contesting
The discussion on improving voice recordings for phone got me to thinking
about where we have come and where we might go.
Long before digital voice recorders (DVK's) the astute SSB contester
discovered the voice loop tape for diskette players. These loops ran from a
few seconds to as long as 16 seconds and were designed as telephone
answering devices. I used one for years to call CQ and the last time I used
one extensively was in the CQ WW SSB in 1979 to win the USA 40 meter Single
Band. I tried to use it in the 1984 ARRL DX SSB on QRP but found that only
on 10 meters could I get answers to be worth the effort.
In 1985 I found Nel-Tech designed by the fellows who designed the Wang DVX
and I laid out good dollars and brought the Nel-Tech 100 home. I used it in
a few contests and N5KO was living in Atlanta at the time took it to N4RJ to
use for Single Operator in the ARRL SSB SS.
It did appear in a voice monitor that there was some hum so he stopped using
it and lost his voice on the second day.
Next I bought a MFJ 432 and found that you could cascade a pair for more
options. This worked well for me in the CQ 160 SSB in 1994 as I won the
Zone 5 Plaque. You had to watch as it you pressed a button wrong you wound
up sending an extra first letter. I wonder how many logged KK4JRB. When
they were first introduced they worked fine on what you had recorded but
would not let you send straight through. Tom, W8JI came up with a fix to
correct and those of us with early MFJ 432's got Rev 1 which corrected the
problem.
A number of hams experimented with the text to speech programs but as
several pointed out using a different voice to send the report caused all
sorts of problems.
Jamie Dupree NS3T, who uses his voice as the Washington reporter for WSB
radio decided that he would take the DVK to the next step and program .wav
files so he could run an entire contest without speaking except for a few
corrections. He published an article in CQ on the subject.
Digital voice could be the future. But so far the steps have been stumbles.
Henry Radio sold the 300 but you had have one at the other end to work
correctly. AOR tried two models several years ago but again you had to have
a unit at both ends. D-Star from ICOM so far is just a VHF device. The
problem is that there needs to be a standard decoding so the various
interfaces can make digital voice be just another digital mode. This can
help with the QRM on the amateur bands but you still need a way to have a
set of exchanges to send.
We have come along way from flipping a toggle switch or using PTT for phone
contests. I went straight to VOX when I went on SSB on Jan 1, 1960 and have
not looked back.
73 Dave K4JRB
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