[WriteLog] RTTY PPT delay

Mon Apr 29 17:01:19 EDT 2013

I think the PTT delay culprit has been found!  I had previously checked my 
WL Ports setting to make sure the radio PTT was set to Off so there wouldn't 
be a conflict between software and hardware PTT.  After reading through 
Don's comments I reread Joe W4TV's comments below in reply to my first query 
about the PTT delay.  As I was in the middle of two different contests, the 
SPDX and the BARTG 75, I didn't give the Joe's note the thorough reading and 
thought it deserved.  However, upon further review...

Joe refers to XMMT.ocx as "... asserting PTT on Winkey (all mode PTT)" and 
ended that I could check it "...by temporarily setting the WriteLog port to 
'None' in Router's Ports tab."  At first I thought Joe was talking about the 
FSK port assignment for WL in the router Ports tab, but then it struck me he 
may have meant the Winkey port assignment setting.  So I set my Winkey port, 
which is normally COM4, to none and changed the TU type back to XMMT.ocx and 
reset up the MMTTY settings.  Ta Da - no PTT delay with the Winkey (all mode 
PTT) port disabled!  Just to check I reset the Winkey port back to COM4 and 
when sending with XMMT.ocx the delay is back.

So apparently the secret for those of us who use the microHAM router and 
Winkey is to disable the Winkey port setting when running the XMMT.ocx 
interface.  I will create a new router preset, WriteLog XMMT, which will 
feature the Winkey port set to none.  Should I want to revert back to using 
the MMTTY plug-in I can just select my normal WriteLog preset and the Winkey 
port will again be defined for COM4.

Thanks to both Don and Joe steering me in the right direction - AGAIN!

73,
Gary AL9A

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Don AA5AU" <aa5au at bellsouth.net>
To: "Writelog Reflector" <writelog at contesting.com>
Sent: April 29, 2013 10:06 AM
Subject: Re: [WriteLog] RTTY PPT delay

While testing WriteLog on my laptop after installing hardware PTT via the 
ACC connector on the back of my TS870, I noticed a delay in PTT. I found 
that I had forgotten to disable PTT via radio control after enabling 
hardware PTT.

It's been well documented that using both hardware and software PTT will 
cause problems with PTT and delay is one of those problems. I don't know if 
this could be the source of your delay, but it should be checked. Once I 
disabled PTT via radio control, all worked normally. If you are connected 
for hardware PTT, go to the Setup menu in the WriteLog window, and select 
Ports. Make sure Comm PTT is set to NO on the port connected for your radio.

In the BARTG Sprint 75, I used 2Tone as the main window for both radios and 
used hardware generated FSK. Despite the blue characters going out ahead of 
what was actually sent, this setup worked very well. I didn't use my laptop 
because it doesn't have any legacy COM ports, only a USB to serial adapter. 
I have 5 legacy COM ports on this PC. Two were used for radio control and 
two were connected to transistor interfaces for FSK and PTT. There was 
absolutely no delay in PTT.

73, Don AA5AU

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Joe Subich, W4TV" <lists at subich.com>
To: <writelog at contesting.com>; "Gary AL9A" <al9a at mtaonline.net>
Sent: April 27, 2013 1:57 PM
Subject: Re: [WriteLog] Fw: RTTY PPT delay

>
> I see no difference in PTT lead/tail times with either the SM6SRW
> MMTTY plugin for Writelog or WriteLog's XMMT.ocx support.
>
> What are your WinKey Lead/Lag times in Router?   WriteLog's XMMT.ocx
> support will assert PTT on Winkey (all mode PTT) while MMTTY is
> asserting PTT on DTR of the FSK port.
>
> You can check to see if it is the all mode PTT by temporarily setting
> the WriteLog port to 'None' in Router's Ports tab.
>
> 73,
>
>    ... Joe, W4TV
>

>________________________________
> From: Keith Goobie <keith at goobie.org>
>To: Gary AL9A <al9a at mtaonline.net>; Writelog Reflector 
><writelog at contesting.com>
>Sent: Monday, April 29, 2013 8:32 AM
>Subject: Re: [WriteLog] RTTY PPT delay
>
>
>Hi All
>
>I played as well in the SPDX RTTY contest (as part of VE3FJB) and I can
>support the observations of Gary regarding PTT delays. It is quite
>noticeable.
>
>I am running writelog 11.11c, both 2Tone & MMTTY through XMMT.ocx, and a
>Flex 3000 connected through DDutil. We just upgraded to 11.xx version of
>Writelog prior to this contest and we were using this as a shakedown
>contest.
>
>Prior to the changes, we were running a version 10.xx Writelog with the
>MMTTY plugin. No delays in PTT and it was snappy with the Flex / DDUtil
>combo.
>
>Based on this info, I did notice in the contest that some stations I
>communicated with had longer turn around times - quite noticeable - and it
>does make one ponder were they using Writelog?
>
>Please view my feedback as constructive.   Writelog is a super great
>program. We are not straying. We did make some 300 contacts in SPDX in a
>mostly search and pounce operation.
>
>Keith - VA3YC
>One of the Ops at VE3FJB
>
>
>On 4/27/13 1:23 PM, "Gary AL9A" <al9a at mtaonline.net> wrote:
>
>> I've been struggling to make a few QSOs in the SPDX RTTY contest and band
>> conditions are simply awful. However, it is providing a bit of a test bed 
>> for
>> the new XMMT.ocx interface. I've been noticing two things on transmit. 
>> One,
>> in the main Rttyrite screen that prints in blue italics text, my macro
>> messages print erratically. Sometimes they print out character by 
>> character,
>> as with the MMTTY plug-in, other times the entire macro dumps onto the 
>> screen
>> as soon as the F key is pressed, and still other times I see part of the 
>> macro
>> print to screen, then a slight pause and then the rest of the macro dumps 
>> onto
>> the screen. Both of my clone windows, one with 2Tone the other with 
>> MMTTY,
>> print the macros correctly character by character. I don't know what the
>> problem is with the main Rttyrite screen, but it seems to be sending ok
>> despite the weird appearance.
>>
>> On another note, I use the microHAM MKII keyer and router software with 
>> my FSK
>> setup. It seems to me by ear that both the PTT lead and tail are longer 
>> than
>> what I'm used to hearing with the MMTTY plug-in. The PTT tail seems
>> particularly long and I've tried adjusting that setting on the PTT tab in
>> router to no avail. Is there something in XMMT.ocx that is causing this?
>> Anyone else notice it or just me? I think I will reinstall the MMTTY 
>> plug-in
>> and see if that makes a difference.
>>
>> 73,
>> Gary AL9A
>> _______________________________________________
>> WriteLog mailing list
>> WriteLog at contesting.com
>> http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/writelog
>> WriteLog on the web: http://www.writelog.com/
>
>-- 
>keith at goobie.org
>Keith Goobie
>Richmond Hill, ON, CANADA
>
>
>_______________________________________________
>WriteLog mailing list
>WriteLog at contesting.com
>http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/writelog
>WriteLog on the web: http://www.writelog.com/
>
>
>
_______________________________________________
WriteLog mailing list
WriteLog at contesting.com
http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/writelog
WriteLog on the web:  http://www.writelog.com/