[RTTY] Best RTTY rig?

[k0bx@qsl.net]

Everyone has a opinion and here is mine.

I don't think we would be concerned with what is the best rtty rig, but more on the implementation of rtty on the rig.  The MOST important thing is the ability of the rtty tones to pass within the rig cw filter!.

All else is just extra.  The two rigs that I have used that does this very well is the Kenwood TS-850 and the TS-870.  In the FSK position the 2125/2295 tones are passed right in the center of the filter. (2210 hz).  I am using a IRL 400hz filter and I can copy everyone.  The other thing that Kenwood did right was the FSK keying circuit for transmit.  It really doesn't matter if it is true fsk or afsk as long as the rig does it and not some tones come from an external source in the mike.  The Kenwood menu lets you set high or low tones, 170/200 or 850 shift and menu item for setting the keying for normal or reverses.  On the front panel it has a RTTY-N/RTTY-R button so you can decode the guy that is upsidedown on xmit but is receiving normal.  All of this makes for a nice rtty rig.

As far as duty cycle, both rigs will output 100 watts as long as you have a power supply that will handle the current.  I had kicked a wire from a homebrew soundcard interface and put my rig in xmit and it stayed in xmit for 2 hours while I was upstairs watching tv.  So on 14078 there was my carrier!.  No harm done to the rig.

Now any rig that we own is the BEST rig.  The Kenwoods work well and but I do operate another rig.  It is a Icom IC-775DSP at our club station at work (Boeing STL).  It is used with a Henry 4K Ulta and Force12 beam with 5 ele on 10, 3 ele on 15/20 and 2 on 40 on a 39 foot boom at 72 foot.  The rig is ok, I have never warmed up to Icom HF rigs but at work everyone IS an engineer and they all perfer Icom.  I added soundcard rtty to it, it has FSK, and like the Kenwood, the receiving tones go right through the 350HZ cw filter in the RTTY mode.  Output same, the Icom has a very nice FSK xmit circuit.  Which rig would I rather have?  I still perfer the Kenwood for ease of operation.

BTW, the Henry at 1400watts is at 1/2 power and it only takes 40 watts from the Icom to drive it.  The Force 12 doesn't seems to mind and we have run several of the rtty contest with it.

Just my opnion.

Joe K0BX

k0bx@qsl.net
http://www.qsl.net/k0bx
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