[RTTY] ROS policeman on 14101

Thu Mar 22 15:26:26 PDT 2012

Hi all,

Firstly, apologies for not appearing in the BARTG contest last weekend.

I had planned a big effort, but that quickly got reduced to a 6-hour entry
after realising that it was Mothering Sunday here. 

The weekend also featured the finals of the 6 Nations Rugby, and I wanted to
watch that, and after learning of a few other jobs the XYL had me down for,
and the chance of any RTTY contesting went out of the window.

But, having found a short time to have a listen around, I don't think I
missed much from here!

When I turned on 14m sometime around Saturday lunchtime, I could only hear 3
UA3's and 2 UT stations, and NOTHING else at all! Both 15m and 10m were as
dead as can be.

So, on to this ROS thing!

Back when I started on RTTY, the band was shared with AmTor and PacTor
stations, plus HF Packet, and a few other semi-automatic stations running
something like WinLink.

We all appeared to get along together, mainly - I suspect - due to the fact
that most ops of these other modes were also RTTY ops.

And then came PSK! While this was fine in the early days, most ops were RTTY
ops trying something new, and many of us were running 5 - 10 watts max, and
enjoying some fun. That was back when the only software was from G3PLX
himself, and it took quite a bit of understanding as to how it all worked.
We also all checked each other's signal, made adjustments along the way, and
learnt a great deal.

It was common to tell someone they were overdriving, and how to fix it.

Then came along software for PSK that made life much simpler, removing the
need to understand ALC etc, and how to tune signals in correctly, simply
allowing the user to "point & click" at a trace, and away you went.

Once it became "that easy", loads of folk started to download the software,
plug the soundcard directly into the rig and make a contact.

Now, it appears to me, that most PSK or ROS or (insert any other new
digimode here) is being used by SSB folk who haven't a clue about that
critical link between the soundcard and the rig, run full power regardless
of need, and who think they are seriously into the digimodes.

Many don't understand the difference between PSK and RTTY, as observed by
the number of cluster spots that say RTTY, but appear on 14070. 

Most don't know what many of these modes actually sound like, or know what
they are best used for either.

In Europe, we witness JT65 contacts running between close EU stations with
100W plus, sometimes even a kilowatt.

ROS is in the same league in that many contacts are between close EU
countries that could easily make a contact with 2 or 3 watts of PSK, but
they run 100 watts, simply because that is what their rig can put out.

These days, it seems to me that most of us RTTY can, and do, use PSK31 when
the need arises (for me, it is a new DXCC that I haven't been able to get on
RTTY), and some use some of the other digimodes occasionally,

BUT, the opposite is NOT true at all.

The vast majority of PSK (and insert other digimodes here too) do not use
RTTY at all, unless they suddenly see a new country (eg HK0NA) on RTTY, and
then they simply fire up a program for RTTY and fire out the pre-installed
RTTY macro - eg HK0NA HK0NA HK0NA DE AA1BC AA1BC AA1BC PSE KN.

And just try telling someone using PSK31 that they need to reduce their
drive and see what sort of abuse you get!

OK, rant over, and please note that the above is just my observation, and
not necessarily those of the reflector in general!

73 de Phil GU0SUP

PS, there are 11 types of people in this world....... 

Those who understand binary, and those who don't!

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