[RTTY] RTTY DX'ing tutorial (was: VK0EK RTTY Update)

[Jeff AC0C]

Alex,

Unless you know you have a monster signal at the DX location, you may want 
to try at the edges of the pileup, especially if you notice the guy moving 
around quite a lot in the pileup.

The pileup on the DX end can sound like a undifferentiated smear of signals 
with virtually no decent decodes.  That naturally pushes the ops toward the 
end of the pile where he can pick out some signals.   Also, in some of the 
DXpeditions the RTTY ops are not very fluent with the mode and there is even 
more of a tendency to work the edges.

73/jeff/ac0c
www.ac0c.com
alpha-charlie-zero-charlie

-----Original Message----- 
From: Alex, VE3NEA
Sent: Sunday, April 10, 2016 1:19 PM
To: rtty at contesting.com
Subject: [RTTY] RTTY DX'ing tutorial (was: VK0EK RTTY Update)

I started chasing DX using RTTY three months ago, after 35 years of DX'ing 
CW only. Trying to learn the new mode, I searched the
Internet for RTTY tutorials, and I found quite a few, but all of them either 
explained how to set up MMTTY, the software that I
do not use, or how to operate in the contests. The only presentation on RTTY 
DX'ing I could find just told me that I needed two
macros, my callsign and "599 TU" - something that I had already figured out 
myself. How to crack the pileups, how to find the DX
listening frequency, how to choose the right time to send your call - none 
of this was covered in the publications that I could
find. I know that many of the subscribers to this list are experienced RTTY 
DX'ers, even though it is a contesting list, some
are even on the Honor Roll - perhaps you guys could share your RTTY DX'ing 
techniques with those of us who are just making their
first steps in this area.

Having no RTTY-specific skills, I tried to use my CW techniques to crack the 
RTTY pileups, and this worked, to some extent, but
I quickly discovered that there are some important differences between the 
two modes that needed to be addressed. For examnple,
in CW I use QSK to know when the DX station starts transmitting, so I can 
abort my own transmission and listen. Since there is
no QSK in RTTY, those who send their call 4 or 5 times, have no idea if the 
DX has already answered someone or is still
listening for a new call. They just keep calling, often on top of the 
station being worked. My solution to that is to ensure
that my own messages are shorter than anything the DX might send. Since the 
DX usually sends something like <call> 599 <call>, I
figured I should send my own call no more than 2 times, then I will catch at 
least the end of the DX transmission and know in
what stage the current QSO is.

There is another difference between CW and RTTY. When I find the DX 
listening frequency in CW, I tune my TX about 100 Hz higher
or lower, since I know several others will be calling precisely on that 
frequency and will interfere with each other. This often
works in CW, but not in RTTY: the RTTY decoders do not pick up the signals 
that are 100 Hz off, so I have to either call on that
exact frequency or tune a few hundred Hz away, hoping that the DX will do 
the same.

One technique that rarely worked for me in CW but worked much better in RTTY 
is tailgating. If the DX operates simplex, quite
often several stations start calling him on the same frequency, resulting in 
no copy at all. I wait until they finish calling,
then, without any pause, send my call once. On more than one occasion I 
added a new one to the log using this trick.

What works for you, and what doesn't? What extra hardware or software does 
one need to be competitive in the RTTY pileups?
Please share your experience.

73 Alex VE3NEA







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