[RTTY] Best RTTY program/hardware

[Dave AA6YQ]

I use (and wrote) WinWarbler, which runs the MMTTY engine in one window, and
an external modem in another. The external modem I use is a KAM'98. My RTTY
activity is mostly DXing, with occasionally ragchewing.

With the MMTTY engine and KAM'98  decoding the same signal and the MMTTY
engine configured to use the EU1SA profile, I find MMTTY to be generally
superior to the KAM'98, although there can be intervals within a QSO during
which the reverse is true. Thus the decoded text from both is occasionally
better the either alone. I have also been testing a new MMTTY profile based
on EU1SA's work, but have not yet quantified its benefits.

Note that a PK232 can be configured as the "front end" for a modem like the
ST-8000, enabling it to be used with WinWarbler or other software that
supports the PK232. Several WinWarbler users report excellent results with
this configuration.

   73,

        Dave, AA6YQ



-----Original Message-----
From: rtty-bounces at contesting.com [mailto:rtty-bounces at contesting.com]On
Behalf Of Rick Ruhl
Sent: Saturday, January 24, 2009 11:45 PM
To: rtty at contesting.com
Subject: Re: [RTTY] Best RTTY program/hardware



-----Original Message-----
From: rtty-bounces at contesting.com [mailto:rtty-bounces at contesting.com] On
Behalf Of Bill, W6WRT
Sent: Saturday, January 24, 2009 10:37 PM
To: rtty at contesting.com
Subject: Re: [RTTY] Best RTTY program/hardware

ORIGINAL MESSAGE:

On Sat, 24 Jan 2009 19:28:45 -0800 (PST), rick darwicki
<n6pe at yahoo.com> wrote:

>
> Is there hardware out there that does a better job than
> software on weak signals?
>
> Please respond to me directly so we don't start a cat
> fight hi hi

>REPLY:

>With all due respect, I am replying on the reflector because this kind
>of question is exactly why the reflector was begun in the first place.
>This is the perfect venue for this kind of discussion.

>Over the years I have run a number of side-by-side tests of software
>and hardware to try to find out which is best at digging out weak
>signals buried in the QRM and QRN. The comparisons showed that RiTTY
>by K6STI (software) and a HAL ST-8000 (hardware modem) are nearly
>identical in performance and I would place both equally at the top of
>the list. Almost as good are MMTTY and MMVARI with MMVARI perhaps
>having a slight edge. Next down the line was a KAM modem. Somewhere in
>the middle were modems by Tono, AEA and the HAL DXP-38.

>The worst I ever tested, by far, was an AEA DSP-232. Absolute junk.

>My friend, Chen W7AY has a software program he wrote called CocoaModem
>which I hear is very, very good but which runs only on a Mac. Haven't
>tried that one yet.

>No cat fights intended. I just call 'em like I see 'em.   :-)

>73, Bill W6WR

Bill, Rick, et all:

A Kam Plus is the best unit Ive ever used on RTTY, that's what I use in my
shack.

Since I write software for the Kantronics and Timewave units (and the MFJ
too, and a beta for the DXP38 and SCS, which never got released), I was able
to try all these out, and found by far the Kam Plus was the best TNC for
RTTY.

It's even better than some or all of the soundcard programs.  Soundcard
programs are limited by the quality of your soundcard.

Rick - W4PC
http://www.cssincorp.com

(Btw, just because I write software for the Kam, doesn't mean you have to
buy my programs, but from the TNC/soundcard standpoint, that's the best unit
Ive seen.)


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