[Skimmertalk] The New Radio - an audio and visual approach to contesting

Mon Nov 3 16:59:50 EST 2008

darn,, David brought up a good point
bandwidth of signals and less portion of the band visible
and if skimmer is modified to look for wider signals that will probably
increase the area that is hit with a mouse click
therefore destroying the accuracy and lack of need we have in cw to fine
tune to the signal

iow we ain't there yet :D

hope to see ya and work ya all in the Phone portion of ARRL SS in less than
two weeks !

73
steve
KG5VK

On Mon, Nov 3, 2008 at 3:40 PM, David Robbins K1TTT <k1ttt at arrl.net> wrote:

> To be useful on ssb it would have to have a wider bandwidth display, ssb
> signals are just too wide and you couldn't see enough of them to be
> worthwhile I think.  Rtty it may be good for though, but I would rather see
> a real rtty skimmer.
>
>
> David Robbins K1TTT
> e-mail: mailto:k1ttt at arrl.net
> web: http://www.k1ttt.net
> AR-Cluster node: 145.69MHz or telnet://dxc.k1ttt.net
>
>
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: skimmertalk-bounces at contesting.com [mailto:skimmertalk-
> > bounces at contesting.com] On Behalf Of Steve Lott
> > Sent: Monday, November 03, 2008 20:27
> > To: skimmertalk at contesting.com
> > Subject: Re: [Skimmertalk]The New Radio – an audio and visual approach to
> > contesting
> >
> > Jose
> >
> > very well stated !!!!!
> >
> > I had not envisioned use of skimmer for SSB but it is as you say a very
> > valuable point and click tool, versus other tools that allow you to see
> > the
> > band but point and click must be followed by fine tuning which waste time
> > and time is lost qso rate
> >
> > One thing I miss now that I am using FT-1000MP's in my SO2R shack is the
> > band scope which I had on my old 756-Pro2
> >
> > Now I can have the best of both worlds with a simple SDR rcvr and
> software
> > that ties the two together
> >
> > There is much happening in our world of Ham Radio
> > and many are helping push the state of the art in operating
> > from Contest loging tools, to interfacing skimmer spots to contest logger
> > band charts
> > with applications like that of RigSync from W2RF
> >
> > And Dave yes your right we can use skimmer now for SSB, most RTTY
> software
> > looks at things as a band scope per se but the point and click accuracy
> of
> > the skimmer software is, much more "accurate" so one point and click and
> > we
> > are zero beat
> >
> > cheers !
> > steve
> > KG5VK
> >
> > http//:sdxa.blogspot.com <http://www.sdxa.blogspot.com>
> >
> >
> > On Mon, Nov 3, 2008 at 1:07 PM, José Nunes CT1BOH <ct1boh at gmail.com>
> > wrote:
> >
> > > >>>>The New Radio – an audio and visual approach to contesting
> > >
> > >
> > > There is a trend in the new SDR radios that incorporates spectrum
> scopes
> > > (panadapter, waterfall, etc). This trend will change the way we operate
> > and
> > > will impact the way we do Contesting.
> > >
> > > The new way of operating is:
> > >
> > > completely eliminate the VFO knob and tune with a mouse and keyboard
> > keys
> > > use both ears and eyes to identify stations
> > > have visual information of the totality of the signals on a band
> > >
> > > "The new radio" offers the visual element, along side the audio element
> > and
> > > the ability to tune from one signal into the next signal without having
> > to
> > > listen to the empty band space in between stations.
> > >
> > > This will have a tremendous impact in the way we Contest, and will
> > > accelerate activity, i.e. more QSOs in the time frame of the contest,
> > > because tuning is many orders of magnitude faster. In a way we can say
> > that
> > > with the "new radio" there is no more Search&Pounce but only Pounce.
> > >
> > > >>>>Contesting with "the old radio"
> > >
> > > Before starting a run, the operator dials the band up and down, turning
> > the
> > > VFO knob, in a continuous way, looking for a clear frequency. Once he
> > finds
> > > and holds the frequency he is able to start a Run. While on the
> > frequency
> > > he
> > > is only aware of a few Khz, depending on his passband filter (500Hz in
> a
> > CW
> > > contest). He has no information whatsoever of what is adjacent to his
> > > frequency and up and down the band.
> > >
> > > If the operator stops the Run and goes into S&P mode, he has to dial
> the
> > > VFO
> > > knob in a continuous way, going from one station into the other
> station.
> > > While doing this, he will listen to the bands (empty space) in between
> > the
> > > stations.
> > >
> > > >>>>Contesting with "the new radio"
> > >
> > > Before starting a Run, the operator looks at a spectrum scope that
> shows
> > > him
> > > the entire band at once. He visually identifies an empty spot and with
> a
> > > mouse click is taken right to the frequency of choice. Once he finds
> and
> > > holds the frequency he is able to start a Run. While on the frequency
> he
> > is
> > > aware of a few Khz, depending on his passband filter (500Hz in a CW
> > > contest), AND to the all the signals present on the band. He not only
> > has
> > > an
> > > audio element (the passband of the radio) but a visual element (all the
> > > signals on the band).
> > >
> > > If the operator stops the run and goes into "S&P" mode, he can click
> and
> > go
> > > zero beat with each signal present on the band. There is no tuning
> > anymore,
> > > there in no more listening to the empty band space in between each
> > station.
> > > The visual element of the new radio will provide the operator the
> > > information to go directly zero beat to each signal.
> > >
> > > Sprectrum scopes have been around for more than 20 years. Radios like
> > ICOM
> > > 781 have sprectrum scopes that have been used by Single Operators in
> the
> > > Non
> > > Assisted categories. All the ICOM PRO series and ICOM 7800 radios have
> > > scopes, as well as Yaesu FT2000 and FT9000 (with DMU units). We can say
> > > that
> > > these scopes are very crude, but they already provide the visual
> > element.
> > >
> > > >>>>Blind Skimmer
> > >
> > > When Alex, VE3NEA released CW Skimmer I sent him an e-mail and told him
> > > that
> > > CW Contesting would be very different in the future.
> > >
> > > CW Skimmer attracted my attention not because of the decoding element
> of
> > > call signs, but for the very powerful and fast waterfall display, with
> a
> > > resolution sufficient for reading Morse Code dots and dashes visually.
> > >
> > > Note that CQWW Rules prohibit CW decoding of call signs in the Single
> > > Operator Non Assisted categories, but it does not prohibit scopes.
> > >
> > > With this in mind, I contacted again Alex, VE3NEA, and asked him if he
> > > could
> > > release a version of his waterfall display, that provide a visual
> > > representation of the dots and dashes, with the CW decoding disabled,
> > > therefore suitable for the Single Operator Non Assisted class. He was
> > very
> > > receptive and we came up with Blind Skimmer.
> > >
> > > In "Blind Mode", no call sign list is produced, none of the waterfall
> > dots
> > > and dashes are annotated with the text of the call sign and the up/down
> > > arrows of the keyboard enable the operator to move the frequency of the
> > > radio from one signal into the next (once again Alex was very receptive
> > to
> > > my suggestion of implementing this very efficient way of "zero beat
> > > tuning").
> > >
> > > >>>>What's next?
> > >
> > > Contesting is a technological game, and because of this an evolving
> > game.
> > > The new generation scopes, with enough resolution to separate one
> signal
> > > from the other will indeed accelerate the way we contest and this means
> > > more
> > > QSOs
> > >
> > > In the end its still one guy, his ability to make QSOs and winning the
> > > Contest
> > >
> > > 73
> > > José Nunes
> > > CT1BOH
> > >
> > > --
> > > --
> > > José Nunes
> > > CONTEST CT1BOH - http://www.qsl.net/ct1boh
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