[CQ-Contest] Spots, Lies and Audio Tapes - a proposal

[john at kk9a.com]

Yes, K0DQ had a compelling post. He is a very nice guy, an amazing
operator and when Scott Redd speaks, everyone listens!

I think that everyone should start getting in the habit of recording their
contest operations. It seems inevitable that it will be a requirement.
Since I started using a MicroHam DigiKeyer I noticed that this is
automatically feeding both sides of my audio into the PC. You have to be
careful to have the correct device specified when recording. If you use an
audio cable from the line out it is probably a good idea to include an
isolation transformer. When operating split, not all of the audio may be
recorded and if you are using a second radio the recording setup gets more
complicated. I am sure that many SO2R ops transmit with their monitor off
so if TX audio is required it could be a problem. Having an external
recording device such as the one JH5GHM mentioned does seem simpler, even
if used for a backup. Many operate away from home and the simpler the
better. It would be nice to hear from more people using external
recorders.

John KK9A


From:	Gary K9GS <garyk9gs at wi.rr.com>
Reply-to:	garyk9gs at wi.rr.com
Date:	Wed, 27 May 2015 20:17:42 -0500

First, hats off to Scott for a well written and thorough reply. I'm going
to add recording capability to my to-do list.

On the subject of recording contests it seems like there are two routes to
take:

1) PC based solutions such as the qsorder plug-in for N1MM or Total
Recorder. I assume with both of these solutions you have to feed audio
into the sound card line-in? I did read KK9A's e-mail regarding problems
with RFI, corrupted files, etc.

2) Scott mentions a hardware solution using an outboard digital recorder.
This seems like a much more foolproof way to go. A quick look on Amazon,
however, reveals hundreds of models ranging from $25 to several hundreds
of dollars. It looks like not all have a way to connect line-level audio.
With a stand-alone digital recorder is a PC interface usually available so
that the recorded file can be downloaded from the recorder and sent to the
contest sponsor? I would hate to have to Fed-Ex my recorder to Randy ;)

Are there any recommendations for specific models that others have used?

Which brings me to a final question. My K3 provides a line-out. I don't
know if the line-out has transmit audio or not? I assume you would want
both sides of the QSO audio? Maybe Scott's solution to record headphone
audio is the best way to go as long as you have the transmit monitor
turned on?

On 5/26/2015 1:40 PM, Scott K0DQ wrote: