[RTTY] RTTY

[John Merrill]

Now we will not be able to recognize you without your call :-).

On Mon, Mar 21, 2011 at 1:21 PM, Gary AL9A <al9a at mtaonline.net> wrote:

> Wow, there sure are a bunch of guys out there with answers!  I omitted one
> thing from my RTTY setup, but that didn't stop the correct answer from
> coming through anyway.  In addition to WriteLog and MMTTY I also have the
> microHAM MicroKeyer II that sends my RTTY.  Phil, GU0SUP wins the first
> place prize for being fastest on the draw with the correct answer.  Second
> place goes to John, WA5ZUP.  The first place prize is a big steaming bowl
> of
> Alaskan Fish Head Soup!  Second place is two bowls!
>
> Both Phil and John suggested unchecking the "strict bps" box on the Ports
> tab in the microHAM router software.  I did that and just by ear I notice a
> significant increase in my RTTY sending speed!  Of course it would have
> helped if I had actually reread the help manual for the MK II  where it
> states:
>
> "NOTE: DO NOT select Strict bps for MMTTY, USB option C provides accurate
> timing."
>
> Apparently in making my original router configurations I missed this
> verbage
> in the text and went with the screen shot that showed the "strict bps" box
> checked.  The Help manual also explains the reason for this check box.
>
> "Some programs rely on the the UART "buffer full" signal for proper PTT
> timing and drop PTT (unkey) when the UART buffer is empty. Because virtual
> ports generally have two buffers - one in the USB driver and one in the
> hardware - the first buffer may empty before all of the data has been
> transmitted allowing the PTT to (drop) before the message is complete.
> 'Strict bps' disables the USB buffering and sends one character at a time
> to
> the FSK output. With "Strict BPS" selected, the output will be about 20%
> slower due to the presence of extra stop bits between characters but proper
> PTT operation will be assured."
>
> So both Hank, W6SX and John, WA5ZUP noticed the 20% drop in speed by ear!
>  I
> just did a quick check with a stop watch.  When I send a test BARTG
> exchange
> with strict bps enabled it takes 10:44 secs.  Sending the same exhange with
> strict bps disabled takes only 9:16 seconds.  That's 1:28 seconds faster on
> the same exchange info!
>
> Incidentially, thanks also to Kok for his comments regarding the stop bits
> and character spacing.  I checked MMTTY and on the Decode tab the
> StopLength
> item selected is "Rx=1bit, Tx=1.5bit".  I changed this to "1bit" and tried
> the same test exchange - 8:68 seconds!  My exchange was set up with spaces
> between the elements as "RST NR TIME NR TIME.  I changed that to have a "-"
> in between the elements so that now it is RST-NR-TIME-NR-TIME.  The test
> exchange time is now down to 8:05 seconds!  That's 2:39 seconds off the
> orginal exhange time!  Kok, would you also like a bowl of Fish Head Soup?
>
> Can we get a do over on the contest now?  Thanks to all for your help.
> Looking forward to absolutely blazing my way through the next RTTY contest!
>
> 73,
> Gary AL9A
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Gary AL9A" <al9a at mtaonline.net>
> To: "W6SX Hank Garretson" <w6sx at arrl.net>
> Cc: "Writelog Reflector" <writelog at contesting.com>; "RTTY Contesting"
> <rtty at contesting.com>
> Sent: March 21, 2011 9:48 AM
> Subject: Re: [RTTY] RTTY
>
>
> > Hi Hank,
> >
> > Likewise, thanks for the Q's in the contest.  Thanks also for commenting
> > that my RTTY seems slow - it seems that way to me too!  Unfortunately, I
> > am
> > at a loss to figure out what the true speed is or how to fix it if it is
> > slow.  I use WriteLog with the MMTTY plug-in for contest logging.  I've
> > checked MMTTY and the baud rate is set to 45.45.  In WriteLog the speed
> is
> > set to 45 baud (60 wpm).  Yet, despite these settings my ear tells me my
> > sending speed is slower than many of the stations I am printing.
> >
> > I will copy this to both the WriteLog and RTTY Contesting reflectors to
> > see
> > if  anyone else has an opinion or suggestion.  All comments appreciated.
> >
> > 73,
> > Gary AL9A
> >
> >
> > ----- Original Message -----
> > From: "W6SX Hank Garretson" <w6sx at arrl.net>
> > To: <al9a at arrl.net>
> > Sent: March 21, 2011 8:24 AM
> > Subject: RTTY
> >
> >
> >>
> >> Good Morning Gary,
> >>
> >> Thanks for all the Qs.
> >>
> >> I noticed yesterday that your RTTY seems slow. It prints perfectly, but
> >> it
> >> seems to my ear to be going out at less than 60 WPM. It just doesn't
> have
> >> the right rhythm. You might want to get someone more expert than me to
> >> listen.
> >>
> >>
> >> 73,
> >>
> >> Hank, W6SX
> >>
> >> Mammoth Lakes, California
> >>
> >> Elevation 8083 feet in John Muir's Range of Light
> >
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