[RTTY] RTTY - Slow computer problems

[Richard Ferch]

Dick,

A few ideas:

Do you see any other symptoms at the same time, such as a slowdown in 
the software's response to frequency changes on the rig, or a slowdown 
in the rig's response to commands from the software? If you do, that 
could point to a problem in your rig control setup that could be backing 
everything up. If you are using an Icom rig, for example, you should 
make sure CI-V transceive is turned off.

As for your RTTY configuration, are you using FSK or AFSK, and if FSK, 
how? Using EXTFSK, or a real serial port, or ...?

If you are using a USB device, have you made sure that all of your USB 
root hubs are set so as to disable the automatic shutdown power 
management feature? USB controllers don't always recognize that you are 
using the port for output, and they may decide the port is not busy and 
try to shut it down to save power after a period of supposed inactivity.

You correct this by going into Device Manager, selecting Universal 
Serial Bus controllers, and then for each and every USB Root Hub and 
Generic USB Hub, opening the Properties window for the hub, selecting 
the Power Management tab and unchecking the "Allow the computer to turn 
off this device to save power" check box. You may also want to disable 
other power management features from the Control Panel, but this is the 
one that seems to cause the most problems, and it does not seem to be 
accessible from the Control Panel's Power Options applet.

You might also consider disconnecting any USB devices that you are not 
using during the contest, such as external hard drives used for backup, 
especially if they have software that checks your computer periodically 
for changed files to do automated backups.

Another contributor to computer slowness is network activity, and 
particularly automated updates over the Internet.

Others have suggested you leave your antivirus running, which is 
fine...but you should turn off its automatic update feature. Do a manual 
update immediately before the contest, turn the automatic feature off, 
and if you're not comfortable with letting it get a couple of days 
behind, do further updates manually during off times.

If you allow Microsoft Update or Windows Update to do automatic updates, 
turn that feature off at least for the duration of the contest.

Turn off any email checker/notifier programs.

Turn Skype off while you are operating.

If you are not operating assisted, you might consider disconnecting from 
your local network (or the Internet, if you don't have other computers 
on a local network) during the contest.

73,
Rich VE3KI


K9OM wrote:

> I'd appreciate your tips for getting  my CPU to operate
> reasonably fast with RTTY as I've tried several  different Windows XP and
> Windows
> 7 computers and they'll all operate  RTTY fast for awhile... and then
> they'll slow down.
>
> Such as, in today's BARTG 75: I'd be decoding and transmitting  at an
> excellent rate and then after a few minutes, my CPU would lock up  while
> decoding
> and not print for about 10 seconds after his transmission  ended.  Very
> frustrating!  Again, this problem is not new but has  happened with 5 different
> CPU's I've tried over the past 2  years.  (4 Windows XP machines and now my
> new Windows 7)
>
> By the way, I'm running N1MM and MMTTY.
>
> I've tried different radios and different serial  cables... but the same
> problem over and over: CPU decodes great for awhile and  then "locks up" and
> prints the information about 10 seconds after it's  sent.