Topband: QRSS on 160m

[by way of Bill Tippett <btippett@alum.mit.edu>]

<< ..and what should those criteria be Doug? >>
Tom,
   I posted two days ago that <>
The criteria, IMO, should be 1) the avoidance of unnecessary interference to 
stations who are following the ARRL (and other similar) bandplan(s) and 2) 
avoidance of unnecessary interference to other local 160M operators. I agree 
that QRSS would sound just like a intermittant carrier, with a short contact 
taking and hour or two or more!  That's why I suggested the bottom or top 5 
KHz in the band.  Because a very loud carrier only 25 or 30 KHz removed from 
the DX window area might cause interference to one's DXing neighbor, I said 
the top 5 KHz is the better idea.  My remarks about bandwidth may be 
incorrect if stations are running high power or even medium power QRSS on 
160M.  The 136 KHz band in Europe where QRSS has been used for over a year, 
and in the U.S. Lowfer band (160-190 KHz) where QRSS is also the dominant 
mode, signals are almost always weak.  Upon reflection, many dozens of 
stations could not operate in a 5 KHz segment on 160M where stateside signals 
would be strong. Our receivers (and perhaps the QRSS software) can not 
tolerate many dozens of strong signals in a 5 KHz bandwidth.  So, if QRSS 
ever becomes popular on 160M, which I doubt, it would make sense for stations 
on one continent to all operate on one 5 KHz segment of the band and stations 
on another continent to operate on a different  5 KHz segment.  The two 5 KHz 
segments should be far removed from each other and from the DX window area of 
1820-1845 IMO.  I really doubt that QRSS will become popular on 160M, but it 
surely will be an important mode on our new 136 KHz band where we are limited 
to 1W ERP, and virtually all signals will be weak, many of them too weak to 
copy by ear, but good copy with QRSS.  IMO, QRSS is no longer an experimental 
mode; like the WSJT modes on VHF, it is well established and the best mode 
for some VERY weak signal conditions which occur when any practical antenna 
is a very small fraction of a wavelength, as occurs in the LF band. Your 
suggestion, Tom, that QRSS is not a QSO mode is incorrect.  On the Lowfer and 
136 KHz bands, it's often the ONLY way to make a QSO.  I encourage everyone 
to become familiar with QRSS receiving and transmitting software and to use 
it, not on 160M, but on 136 KHz when we are finally granted that amateur band.
The Europeans have been using QRSS on 136 KHz for over a year and, no doubt, 
have more insight about these issues than most of us on this side of the pond.
In closing, I very much agree with Tom's conclusion << It makes sense to keep 
such modes in less populated areas of the 
 band. Everyone benefits.>>
Doug W0AH  QRSS30 beacon on 187.591 KHz