> From: "Michael Furfari" <k3fh at adelphia.net>
> Subject: Re: [RTTY] PSK Info
>
> It is a cool mode, but it reminds me of when I smoked cigarettes and someone
> offered me a cigar. I would smoke the cigar but 1/2 hour later all I wanted
> was a cigarette. A steady diet of PSK would just increase my craving for
> RTTY.
> Ditto..... only an ex-smoker can understand. You are right on with the
> comment. PSK is something to do when there are no RTTY signals to decode.
>
> Dick - AA5VU
I have heard comments like this before where RTTY operators just can?t ?put
their arms around? these new-fangled digital modes and embrace them like RTTY
and I think I know why. I am not an old timer by any means. My first RTTY
contact was only about 12 years ago. I first saw it being demonstrated at a
club meeting and I was hooked. I then learned a neighbor a few doors down had
actually earned DXCC on RTTY! I was very fortunate to be able to observe some
real pros in action work this mode. This is Difference Number One between RTTY
ops of yesteryear and digital ops of today: watching someone who is experienced
at operating this mode before you try it. I would like to hear from other ?old
timers? about how they got started. I am pretty sure it was probably by seeing
it done by someone else then deciding you wanted to try it as opposed to
reading about it in a book or magazine article then deciding you wanted to try
it even though you had never seen it being used. With the sec
ond method, you don?t have any first hand point of reference on proper
operating techniques or etiquette that might be peculiar to this mode. You just
hook up some wires then jump into the fray and cross your fingers.
Back then, you had to be really sure that this was something you wanted to do
because you were going to have to put out some bucks to buy some hardware and
software in order to get on the air. My neighbor had accomplished DXCC with a
VIC-20 and AEA CP-1 and I was fortunate to find the same combination at a local
hamfest. OK, I didn?t shell out a lot of cash (about $50 I think), but I still
had to pay something. He helped me hook it up and I had a blast with this for
quite some time. Nowadays, every computer has a sound card of some sort and you
can build a crude interface from a handful of junque box parts. If you just
want to eavesdrop, you can do it with only a single audio cable from the rig to
the sound card. The bottom line is that there is no bottom line; its free or
darn near close to it. Not only does it cost virtually nothing to try this mode
from a hardware standpoint, there are also several excellent programs that
include PSK31, MFSK16 and other modes that are also
totally free! This is Difference Number Two: there is something, real or
imagined, that equates an outlay of hard earned greenbacks with a certain level
of commitment. I can?t put my finger on it. I knew this was something I wanted
to do and it was worth it to me to pay the money for the gear and learn how to
do it right, at least according to a couple of Elmers. Eventually I ?graduated?
to a brand new Kam Plus and the Kantronics DOS software. I don?t remember what
this combo cost back in the mid 90?s (heck, I don?t even remember what I had
for breakfast this morning!), but I know it was over $400.00. I wasn?t piddling
around with this RTTY thing any more, I was serious.
And speaking of graduating from a Commodore VIC-20 to an IBM clone, this is
finally allowed me to use something not available to me before: macros! I have
written extensively on this topic. Jim was so gracious as to print one of my
tirades in the Gazette about a year ago. I cut my RTTY teeth without the
benefit of macros and when I did get a computer that would allow me to use
them, I didn?t go crazy. I had a brag file and couple of other short ones like
BTU and so forth. For me, this has always been a radio hobby that uses
computers. My brag file then and now starts with the radio and then the
antennae farm. Sure, I do list my computer, controller and software, but it
really is an afterthought and I don?t go into any great depth as far as my
computer goes; just the fact that it is a homebrew AMD K6/2-350. Now I know all
of you have had PSK31 QSOs where the other operator sends you his brag file
(usually without you even asking for it) and the first items on his list
revolve
around the computer. Of course he tells you what kind of processor he is
using, operating system (including the build version), amount of memory, size
of the hard drive, brand and model of soundcard, power rating of the power
supply, speed of the CD-ROM/DVD burner, the color of the case (no joke, someone
actually had on his list that he was running one of those cool Lucite cases
with neon lights inside) and so forth. I remember one QSO where the radio and
antenna were the last things on his list. What we have now is a computer hobby
that uses radios! There is almost never any live typing taking place during
these QSOs either. One of my pet peeves of all times is when this alleged QSO
is finished, the other operator somehow feels obligated to tell me what date
and time I was put in his log. Now I know everyone is reading this on a
computer of some sort. Look down in the lower right hand corner and tell me
what you see? A CLOCK! Guess what? I already know what date and time th
is QSO was concluded without you telling me! This date and time macro is being
used only because it is necessary, not because it is in anyway helpful or
necessary. I have never seen this being done on any other mode that does not
require a computer so why is it being done on PSK31? Difference Number Three:
typing may be slow and tedious for some of us (I only took typing in High
School so I could sit in class with the pretty girls), but at least I know I am
talking to another human being, not just with someone who is clicking macros.
So here is my theory; its not the fact that operators are jumping into this
mode without the benefit of having been properly Elmered, and its not even the
fact that they have not made a financial investment in equipment and software
that is causing some us green keyers to be uncomfortable with these new modes.
During Bill Clinton?s 1992 candidacy, his campaign manager James Carville
became famous for saying, ?It?s the economy, stupid!?. I don?t know about the
rest of you guys, but as far as I am concerned, my reason for not fully
embracing these modes is because, ?It?s the macros, stupid!? Sure, being a
proficient typist does make any computer-to-computer QSO flow a bit easier, but
I would rather have a ?conversation? with a hunt & peck typist than a so-called
QSO with someone?s left index finger clicking a macros with a mouse any day!
73,
de Scott NØIU
_______________________________________________
RTTY mailing list
RTTY@contesting.com
http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/rtty
|