[RTTY] Station upgrade

[Tyler Stewart]

Outlaw AFSK?  Maybe dirty AFSK, but it's the only way to fly AFAIC.  S&P in
NET/Autotune TX mode saves a lot of time and you are on exactly the right
frequency when you answer.
 
How about PSK?  You cant run FSK there...  One of the big pluses with the
Yaesu's over most of the Kenwoods is that they are set up for proper
AFSK/PSK operation in PACKET mode and that passband, etc., is easily
programmed.  With the older Kenwoods, you have to run in SSB mode and you
have to play manual games with the passbands to get it up above 2 khz center
freq.  If you run AFSK at lower audio frequencies, you are asking for
trouble with audio harmonics trashing the band for others.
 
AFSK when done properly works just fine, and in fact, a lot of modern rigs
just have an internal AFSK generator so it's really still AFSK without the
tracking advantages of a sound card.
 
Ty K3MM
 

  _____  

From: Robert Chudek [mailto:k0rc at citlink.net] 
Sent: Saturday, February 25, 2006 11:16 PM
To: rtty at contesting.com
Cc: k3mm at verizon.net; w7why at verizon.net
Subject: Re: [RTTY] Station upgrade


Okay, a second shot at this...
 
I agree, the TS-850SAT is definitely a better radio. They're selling in the
$700 ~ $800 price range for a sharp used unit. Then you can filter them up
for another couple hundred bucks. And the TS-870 is even better.
 
If Tom can suppress his desire to run High Power, and he sells both the
FT-840 and the TS-450, and he throws that Grand on the table, he could end
up with a nice pair of TS-850's with good filters.
 
But don't sell the TS-450 too short. It actually runs true FSK and you can
filter it up with 250 Hz filters that work on CW and RTTY. But a $3
Kilo-buck radio it's not! It's a compact, portable, entry-level radio.
 
As far as I'm concerned, AFSK should be outlawed. I was chasing a phantom
signal on 15m in NAQP this afternoon. Another overdriven AFSK operator.
 
Come to think about it, my old Drake T4XB had FSK in it. That's what, 30
year old tube technology? I don't understand why FSK isn't a standard
feature in all radios. You know, like a microphone.
 
73 de Bob - K0RC
 
 
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * 
Message: 9
Date: Sat, 25 Feb 2006 20:05:35 -0500
From: "Tyler Stewart" <k3mm at verizon.net>
Subject: Re: [RTTY] Station upgrade
To: "'Robert Chudek'" <k0rc at pclink.com>, <rtty at contesting.com>
Cc: w7why at verizon.net
Message-ID: <008801c63a70$c02116e0$8900a8c0 at basement>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii

I don't know about the FT840, but the TS4x0 is really a lousy contest radio.
The worst part is the noisy synthesizer, and if you overdrive in
AFSK...gawd!  Instead of running high power, get a couple of TS850's...much
better radios.

Ty K3MM