[WriteLog] PSK31 Observations in CCCC contest Part I

[Lloyd S. Smith]

Don:

I think that the improvement it needs the most is a waterfall display which
is 10 times easier to zero in on a signal.

Lloyd

----- Original Message -----
From: "Don Hill" <aa5au@msn.com>
To: "WriteLog Reflector" <Writelog@contesting.com>
Sent: Saturday, September 02, 2000 1:44 AM
Subject: [WriteLog] PSK31 Observations in CCCC contest Part I


>
> I noticed these things in the first PSK31 contest I entered earlier this
year
> but did not note them.  There are a couple of things that can be done with
> WriteLog to improve PSK contesting.  So far, I note 2 of them:
>
> 1.  I changed the exchange format to allow for lower case and it scored
zero
> points for those calls in lower case.  Edited it back to upper case and
points
> scored OK.  Lower case is suppose to be easier to receive in PSK31.
>
> 2.  It would help IMMENSELY if the cursor was ALWAYS returned to the entry
window
> automatically when clicking anything in the WriteLog PSK Control window.
If you
> are transmitting with the cursor in the PSK window and hit ESC to abort
the transmission
> you get double printed characters in the receive window and have to exit
out of the
> program and restart in order to clear that up.
>
> PSK31 contesting is very challenging.  Much more so than RTTY.  It takes
more
> hand-eye coordination and less ear-coordination.  My TS870 can narrow the
sideband
> bandwidth from between 1000 hz and 1400 hz, but I still here several
stations
> within the passband.  This is inherent to the narrow PSK mode.  So it's
almost
> better to turn off the receive audio because invariably it screws you up
to listen
> to "your" CQ frequency and here several other PSK31 signals all around
you.
> Looking at the display is the only way to determine if someone is calling
you.
>
> Perhaps with time you can distinguish the audio differences especially if
you
> CQ within a certain audio range.  But I've twisted this NIR-12 every which
way
> but loose and can't narrow it down enough to exclude nearby signals.  It's
not
> like a 250 hz filter in RTTY, where nothing comes in except those calling
you.
>
> I've worked some nice DX so far including a JA2.  JL6HKJ just answered my
CQ
> and that's pretty cool.  This mode takes a lot of practice.  The quirks of
WriteLog
> in PSK31 contesting need to be worked out, but so far, it's working fairly
well
> except for the two major problems mentioned above.  7M4DWT just answered
> me.  Man, this is COOL!
>
> More later, 73 de Don AA5AU
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
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>
>


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