[RTTY] Contesting RTTY software and hardware

[Ed Muns]

> (a) what is considered to be the best contesting software for RTTY?

Depending on one's objectives in RTTY contesting several alternatives could
be considered "best".  WriteLog/MMTTY and N1MM Logger/MMTTY are the most
popular software configurations used in recent RTTY contests.
Win-Test/MMTTY is growing fast and will become a larger factor in the
future.  MMTTY stand-alone, MixW, RITTY, and a number of others have dropped
to much lower levels of usage.

> (b) What is the best hardware to assist with very quck 
> centering on the signal and assist decoding.?
> 
> I relaise that programs such as Writelog have a built 
> inengine such as MMTTY, and Mixw also will decode quite well, 
> but I find them quite slow incentering a staion.
> Is there any external hardware that can assist.

Few RTTY contesters using MMTTY would agree that it is "quite slow" in
tuning a station.  With a bit of operating experience you can get within
tens of Hertz just by ear and the three tuning-aid displays of MMTTY (or
other software and hardware) help to quickly zero-beat.

> I currently use an Orion II, and shortly an Elecraft K3, both 
> are/will be interfaced to the computer/s by US Navigator interfaces.

This is all top-of-the-line hardware for RTTY contesting.  I think the K3 is
the "best" RTTY radio with the Icoms not far behind (756Pro series, 7800).
Orions are excellent radios but don't have the RTTY filtering options
available in the first two.  Still, lots of other radio alternatives are
used successfully by top stations.

Results are more correlated with operator skill than software or hardware.

73,
Ed - W0YK