[RTTY] PSK Article in QST

[Kok Chen]

On Feb 20, 2008, at 2/20    9:31 AM, k0bx at arrl.net wrote:

> Gone by the wayside and RTTY is more popular then ever.


That might become true with MFSK16 and Olivia, but it does not appear  
to be so with PSK31.  Just compare the activity in the PSK portion of  
the 20m band to the RTTY portion.  How many years has it been since  
PSK31 became available?  And it has not "gone by the wayside."

I think the majority of PSK ops are people new to digital modes.   
PSK31 is easier to operate than RTTY (never an "inverted" signal on  
BPSK31, for example).

Much of it is due to Skip KH6TY's introduction of waterfall tuning to  
hamdom.  I had seen waterfalls used for finding weak signals back  
during the NASA Cyclops (SETI) conference in 1970, but Skip's use of  
it in PSK31 made it a mode that even a beginner can use easily.  Skip  
has yet to receive a well earned medal for his pioneering work.

You also see a bunch of exclusive-CW ragchewers who have moved over  
from CW to PSK31.

And then, there is a bunch of old RTTY guys, like W8HYG ("Al <ding>   
<ding> in Cleaveland", using the callsign W8TTY now) who are today  
frequenting PSK31 more than RTTY.

I am agnostic.  But for a casual rag chew, I much prefer PSK31.  As  
long as VP6DX does not use PSK31, there is little choice but to use  
RTTY.  VP6DX is easy from the west coast on all three bands they have  
done RTTY, but I think there are more than a couple of guys who did  
not get through on RTTY who could have gotten through on PSK31.

PSK31 is not problem free.  It is pretty useless when there is  
multipath.  I remember pulling my hair out trying to make contact  
with PY0FT (I think JA1ELY was at the keyboard) on PSK31 but he was  
easily worked through the flutter when he moved up a few kHz and  
switched to steam RTTY.

With a stable band, I prefer PSK31.  When there is multipath, I  
prefer steam RTTY.

Vy 73
Chen