[RTTY] Some basic RTTY questions

[Michael Rapp]

Hi all,

I participated in the CQ WW RTTY last September and had a blast, but I
tried to do things too much and too fast and burned myself out on RTTY (and
ham radio).  I'm slowly getting back into things and I remembered just how
much fun I had in RTTY.

(My interest was partially rekindled by re-reading Hank Garretson's, W6SX,
profile in the past December's NCJ.  Hank reminded me that a tremendous
amount of fun can be had even if one doesn't come anywhere close to
winning.  For whatever reason, late last fall I got caught up in the
frustration that my station and antenna would never allow me to reach
anywhere near a winning score.  Hank's words reminded me that that is not
the point.  Having fun is the point.  Thank you, Hank.)

In any case, I've decided to take it slower this time and do one thing at a
time.  So, my first question is about that I am not understanding something
fundamental about the RTTY tones.

It seems the most common mark tone is 2125, followed by 1275.  I've read in
numerous places that many people set their mark tone frequency to be even
lower, such as 915, as it is less fatiguing.

But, I'm set up for FSK.  My software (MMTTY) doesn't decide what my
transmitted tones are.  My radio does.  My Yaseu FT-950 allows me to pick
2125 or 1275 and that's it.  So it looks like I can't set my mark tone to a
lower frequency even if I wanted to.

Moreover, changing the mark tone makes no sense on receive as one is
receiving the tone frequency of the transmitting station.  Am I correct or
am I missing something really basic here?

My second question is on optimizing my receive audio.  My radio PC is an
old server and does not have a built-in sound card  I'm using a cheap
little USB sound card that has a mic in not a line in.  I receive my RTTY
audio by taking the REC OUT of my FT-950 into a mixer (for sideband work)
and then the tape out of the mixer that goes into my USB sound card's mic
jack.

Is this okay?  I don't seem to be overdriving (or underdriving) the mic
input at all and this is the setup I used for many many contacts in CQ WW.
 My concern is that I'm missing weak stations with this configuration.

Thanks everyone for your help.
-- 
/*/-=[Michael / KT5MR]-=/*/