[RTTY] Green Keys vs. PSK31 - One man's opinion

[Scott Schultz]

> From: "Michael Furfari" <k3fh at adelphia.net>
> Subject: Re: [RTTY] PSK Info
> 
> It is a cool mode, but it reminds me of when I smoked cigarettes and someone
> offered me a cigar.  I would smoke the cigar but 1/2 hour later all I wanted
> was a cigarette.  A steady diet of PSK would just increase my craving for
> RTTY.

> Ditto..... only an ex-smoker can understand. You are right on with the
> comment. PSK is something to do when there are no RTTY signals to decode.
>
> Dick - AA5VU 

I have heard comments like this before where RTTY operators just can’t “put their arms around” these new-fangled digital modes and embrace them like RTTY and I think I know why. I am not an old timer by any means. My first RTTY contact was only about 12 years ago. I first saw it being demonstrated at a club meeting and I was hooked. I then learned a neighbor a few doors down had actually earned DXCC on RTTY! I was very fortunate to be able to observe some real pros in action work this mode. This is Difference Number One between RTTY ops of yesteryear and digital ops of today: watching someone who is experienced at operating this mode before you try it. I would like to hear from other “old timers” about how they got started. I am pretty sure it was probably by seeing it done by someone else then deciding you wanted to try it as opposed to reading about it in a book or magazine article then deciding you wanted to try it even though you had never seen it being used. With the sec
 ond method, you don’t have any first hand point of reference on proper operating techniques or etiquette that might be peculiar to this mode. You just hook up some wires then jump into the fray and cross your fingers. 

Back then, you had to be really sure that this was something you wanted to do because you were going to have to put out some bucks to buy some hardware and software in order to get on the air. My neighbor had accomplished DXCC with a VIC-20 and AEA CP-1 and I was fortunate to find the same combination at a local hamfest. OK, I didn’t shell out a lot of cash (about $50 I think), but I still had to pay something. He helped me hook it up and I had a blast with this for quite some time. Nowadays, every computer has a sound card of some sort and you can build a crude interface from a handful of junque box parts. If you just want to eavesdrop, you can do it with only a single audio cable from the rig to the sound card. The bottom line is that there is no bottom line; its free or darn near close to it. Not only does it cost virtually nothing to try this mode from a hardware standpoint, there are also several excellent programs that include PSK31, MFSK16 and other modes that are also
  totally free! This is Difference Number Two: there is something, real or imagined, that equates an outlay of hard earned greenbacks with a certain level of commitment. I can’t put my finger on it. I knew this was something I wanted to do and it was worth it to me to pay the money for the gear and learn how to do it right, at least according to a couple of Elmers. Eventually I “graduated” to a brand new Kam Plus and the Kantronics DOS software. I don’t remember what this combo cost back in the mid 90’s (heck, I don’t even remember what I had for breakfast this morning!), but I know it was over $400.00. I wasn’t piddling around with this RTTY thing any more, I was serious. 

And speaking of graduating from a Commodore VIC-20 to an IBM clone, this is finally allowed me to use something not available to me before: macros! I have written extensively on this topic. Jim was so gracious as to print one of my tirades in the Gazette about a year ago. I cut my RTTY teeth without the benefit of macros and when I did get a computer that would allow me to use them, I didn’t go crazy. I had a brag file and couple of other short ones like BTU and so forth. For me, this has always been a radio hobby that uses computers. My brag file then and now starts with the radio and then the antennae farm. Sure, I do list my computer, controller and software, but it really is an afterthought and I don’t go into any great depth as far as my computer goes; just the fact that it is a homebrew AMD K6/2-350. Now I know all of you have had PSK31 QSOs where the other operator sends you his brag file (usually without you even asking for it) and the first items on his list revolve 
 around the computer. Of course he tells you what kind of processor he is using, operating system (including the build version), amount of memory, size of the hard drive, brand and model of soundcard, power rating of the power supply, speed of the CD-ROM/DVD burner, the color of the case (no joke, someone actually had on his list that he was running one of those cool Lucite cases with neon lights inside) and so forth. I remember one QSO where the radio and antenna were the last things on his list. What we have now is a computer hobby that uses radios! There is almost never any live typing taking place during these QSOs either. One of my pet peeves of all times is when this alleged QSO is finished, the other operator somehow feels obligated to tell me what date and time I was put in his log. Now I know everyone is reading this on a computer of some sort. Look down in the lower right hand corner and tell me what you see? A CLOCK! Guess what? I already know what date and time th
 is QSO was concluded without you telling me! This date and time macro is being used only because it is necessary, not because it is in anyway helpful or necessary. I have never seen this being done on any other mode that does not require a computer so why is it being done on PSK31? Difference Number Three: typing may be slow and tedious for some of us (I only took typing in High School so I could sit in class with the pretty girls), but at least I know I am talking to another human being, not just with someone who is clicking macros. 

So here is my theory; its not the fact that operators are jumping into this mode without the benefit of having been properly Elmered, and its not even the fact that they have not made a financial investment in equipment and software that is causing some us green keyers to be uncomfortable with these new modes. During Bill Clinton’s 1992 candidacy, his campaign manager James Carville became famous for saying, “It’s the economy, stupid!”. I don’t know about the rest of you guys, but as far as I am concerned, my reason for not fully embracing these modes is because, “It’s the macros, stupid!” Sure, being a proficient typist does make any computer-to-computer QSO flow a bit easier, but I would rather have a “conversation” with a hunt & peck typist than a so-called QSO with someone’s left index finger clicking a macros with a mouse any day!

73,
de Scott NØIU