Interesting.. Back when I was more interested in WSJT I briefly ran two
laptops in my rover (for 50 and 144 MHz.) It didn't occur to me to try and run
both bands on a single computer. I will revisit this if my interest level in
WSJT goes back up.
Going back to the original topic, I used to enjoy being able to easily
transition between FSK441 and SSB (on the same frequency.) All I had to do was
disable TX on WSJT. No need to QSY or push any buttons on the radio. The
radio I used at the time was smart enough to mute the microphone audio when it
was keyed via the data connector. When I pressed the PTT switch on the
microphone I could talk to people. It all seemed easy and logical at the time
(:
Other operators seemed ok with brief SSB calls on FSK441 frequencies when
signal levels were high enough, and one could arrange to go to higher bands
etc. I miss the old days (: I suspect using SSB voice on the FT8 calling
frequency would not be appreciated by many operators today.
73
Mark S
VE7AFZ
mark@alignedsolutions.com
604 762 4099
> On Sep 18, 2019, at 6:59 AM, RT Clay <rt_clay@bellsouth.net> wrote:
>
> I think the mode switching problem (and people getting "stuck on FT8") has
> been made worse by the recent change in ARRL VHF contest rules that allows
> single ops to transmit simultaneously on multiple bands. It was easy for
> example for me to set up a single computer with two sound cards and two
> radios running FT8. I think many ops now want to have a radio running 6M FT8
> all the time to catch weak openings on that band.
> Only allowing a single signal at once on ANY band (like HF contests) would
> discourage single ops from trying to cover multiple bands on FT8.
>
> Technically It is not easy to have a computer+two radios on FT8 and easily
> switch back and forth from SSB (keeping a soundcard for voice messages of
> course). Yes, you can go to multiple computers instead.
>
> Also, allowing internet chat rooms I think has made FT8 use take priority
> over SSB/CW, just because it is much easier to do FT8 + internet compared to
> SSB/CW + internet.
> Tor N4OGW
>
> On Wednesday, September 18, 2019, 7:41:47 AM CDT, N1BUG <paul@n1bug.com>
> wrote:
>
> This is a situation I am going to have to investigate and try to
> deal with as soon as I have some quality free time for radio...
> hopefully in about 5 to 6 weeks.
>
> Call it over thinking things if you want, but of necessity band
> switching tasks are complicated here. I am active from LF to UHF and
> can only afford to have one good transceiver. VHF band switching
> involves switching 28 MHz IF to the appropriate transverter,
> reducing power output from the transceiver, enabling the correct
> amplifier while making sure all others are disabled, and additional
> important tasks. Experience has proven that if done manually, the
> operator can and eventually will forget something and the result is
> sometimes not pretty. I've been around a while and have tried
> multiple approaches to the problem. Until recently all came up
> lacking. I've now solved this very nicely by custom designing
> interface hardware and having DXLab Commander handle all band change
> operations. I click a single band button and all of the appropriate
> tasks are performed instantly and automatically. But this means I
> must have Commander running when operating any band above HF.
>
> Running WSJT-X and DXLab Commander at the same time is easy since
> WSJT-X has an option to control
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