[TenTec] AOR voice modem (was bandwidth use)

[Rob Atkinson, K5UJ]

The AOR digital voice gadget is an interesting but pricey toy at this point.
There are a few technical problems as were mentioned in the QST review which
I will get to in a moment, but first, the social aspects of HF and why they 
will
prevent digital voice from ever becoming more than an interesting niche 
mode,
for the time being.

Like it or not, HF operating for an awful lot of hams
is to some degree a competitive activity.  Many hams have spent tens of 
thousands
of dollars (yen, pounds etc.) on the all too familiar hardware inside and 
out, so that
they may win, have the Big Signal, and be King of The Band.   An awful lot 
of hams
get drawn into the desire to dominate, especially in contesting and chasing 
dx.
Now, to some extent, given that digital signals are easier to copy and 
decode
if transmitted with lower power and poorer antennas, here is something that 
levels
the playing field, that renders those kilowatts and stacked beams not quite 
as necessary.
Many hams operating a lot of analog phone will have none of it.  I am not 
attempting to
take sides on this--I'm merely stating the status quo.  For many, the nature 
of the
hobby is to go in the opposite direction and if possible, _increase_ the 
number of
ways one may gain an advantage.

Technically, at this point, the digital device requires receipt of a sync 
stream at the start of each transmission.  Besides introducing a cumbersome 
delay eliminating rapid fire roundtable type qsos, if this sync stream is 
lost at the receiver, the listening op has to listen to data, until the 
talking op finally lets go of the PTT button.  Better hope you don't have a 
monolog operator on the other end.  Because of the delay, all the steps 
needed each time someone transmits, to decode the voice, the current setup 
would I think, encourage brick on mic button AM type transmissions.  Hams 
used to quick analog sideband interjections and roundtable frivolity, made 
possible by solid state switching and amp keying loops will find that this 
sloooooooooows evvvvvvvery thiiiiiiiiiing dooooooooown.
Hopefully the technical problems can be worked out.  But in the near future, 
digital voice will probably be a mode enjoyed mainly by people already using 
other digital modes on HF.

Rob Atkinson
K5UJ

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