[RTTY] best hardware RTTY decoder?

[Ed Muns]

Dick, K7VC, wrote:
> I would like to thank everyone for their inputs on the best 
> hardware RTTY decoder.
> 
> As good as these units are, I have detected what seems to be 
> an undercurrent of opinion that even the best are still using 
> decade-old technology and the best modern software solutions 
> are surpassing the best hardware solutions.  Am I reading this right?

Depending on how you define "best", this conclusion will be correct or not.
RITTY is decade-old software technology that is superior to most other
software and hardware decoders in some signal detection scenarios.  What is
important to you?

* only weak signal detection
* realistically available decoders
* non-zero-beat signals
* signals buried in QRN
* pile-ups
* nearby loud signals
* multipath
* flutter
* all conditions with equal probability
* etc.

Many hardware and software decoders are cheap enough to warrant running in
parallel on the same signal which provides the strengths of each, as
conditions vary.

Ed - W0YK