[UK-CONTEST] RTTY operation (was ARRL Contests)

[Dez Watson]

For many years I used a FT-1000MP MK-V for FSK RTTY.

The traditional advantages of FSK over AFSK were the ability to use 
narrower filters (250 Hz is about the minimum)
and direct keying of the transceiver so there's less chance of 
over-modulation of the tones.

I did an awful lot of RTTY running from ZC4 land and the best solution 
for me was to use the transceiver
RIT for the small minority of callers who called slightly off frequency.

For Search & Pounce I used a really slow VFO dial speed to aid accurate 
tuning.

More recently I run a AFSK with a IC-7000

DSP filters these days mean you can often tailor the passband of the RX 
filters to be almost as good as
the narrow RTTY filters in FSK-enabled rigs.

It's much more easy to generate poor audio tones using AFSK so be 
certain the speech processor is OFF
when using AFSK RTTY, or PSK for that matter.

I still prefer to use transceiver RIT when running for the few who do 
call off frequency - but most ops seem to be able
to tune in a RTTY signal without too much bother.

I never use NET or AFC as these are a recipe for wandering all over the 
band and best left unticked.

73

Dez G3WW (ZC4DW)