Re: [RTTY] RTTY software for macs?

[Kok Chen <chen@mac.com>]

Tom and all,

I wrote something in Cocoa which I use in contests (if you'd worked me 
in the contests for the past two years, that is what answered you).  
But it talks only to the KAM Host Interface (that is why I use the KAM 
as the Baudot backend with both the Timewave DSP-599zx and the HAL 
ST-8000).

Your posting is making me think that there is enough interest for a 
free (as in free beer) homebrew RTTY program for MacOS X.  I'd earlier  
thought hams with MacOS 8/9 were to cheap to migrate and I am no longer 
interested in writing tedious MacOS 9 code.  I'd migrated to X even 
before Cheetah hit the street since I work at Apple :-).  But yours and 
AA5VU's postings is making me think that there is a wider audience for 
MacOS X code other than myself.

I had originally planned on working on a no-holds barred FSK/PSK 
demodulator and not another contest program, since I can make do with 
my current one (contesting is not really a number one priority in my 
hobby activities).  Jim, N2HOS, runs Macs and he is interested in the 
PSK side while I am more of an FSK person.

So.... should I work on a contest program that uses existing hardware 
modem first, or should I work on a "ST-8000-beater" software modem 
first, from your collective viewpoint?  I am still leaning towards a 
software modem since i) it could also be used in a latter full blown 
contest program and ii) at the beginning, we can cobble up the user 
interface with some basic stuff that allows canned messages and contact 
numbers, etc, to be sent, so it can rudimentarily be used in contests, 
too.

My plan is to make the xCode project completely open so anyone who 
knows some Objective C and C can have a go modifying it.

By using the MacOS X's sound HAL (Hardware Abstraction Layer) which is 
floating point, we have tons of dynamic range when coupled with a good 
24-bit USB/Firewire A/D converter.

I am currently busy (as in hobby-busy) with finishing an app for 
astronomy CCD imaging which I had started from the ground up with USB 
drivers :-).  Photography/astrophotography are another of my hobbies.  
I expect to wind down on that (hah!) in a week or two and can start 
working on the RTTY stuff then.  I need to get it ready before the 
clouds part for 6 weeks in Portland , anyway :-).

If enough folks are interested, we can together cobble up something 
that is not just for my personal use.

Anyone else out there with Cocoa/xCode experience who wants to join in 
the development work?

Anyone interested in using and testing it while it is in development?  
We can spin off a mailing list or still use this reflector if the other 
folks don't think it is not related to the intent of the reflector.

I expect hams to be willing to try even pre-alpha code, and can join in 
the fun as we develop the app from the ground up.  You would need at 
least the standard 16-bit sound input that is available on most Macs; 
or better, if you get a USB sound converter that is 20- or more bits.  
I have a couple of 20-bit Griffin Technology iMics that I use in the 
shack ($40 or somewhere around there; I have tested and the Mac sees 
the full 20 bits from it), together with a 24-bit M-Audio Quattro 
(don't ask how much I paid for it a few years back -- but 24-bit USB 
converters are now going for under $100).

73
Chen, W7AY



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