[RTTY] Dealing with High-Pitched Background Noise?

[Bill Turner]

ORIGINAL MESSAGE:          (may be snipped)
 
> However, I noticed an annoying disadvantage when I did this.  With the
> narrow filter engaged, the background noise becomes much higher in pitch,
> to the point that I find it quite uncomfortable to listen to.
 
REPLY:
 
Perfectly normal. The default tones for RTTY in most transceivers and software are 2125 and 2295 Hz. When you narrow down the receiver's filters, the white noise falls into that range and that's what you are hearing - high pitched white noise. 
 
One alternative is to use lower frequencies if your transceiver and RTTY software support them. Many hams use tones in the range of just above 1 kHz which may be easier to listen to over a long period of time. 
 
Consult your owner's manual to see if it possible with your present rig. 
 
73, Bill W6WRT