[ADXA] DXpeditions, RTTY, FT8. etc

[jayw5jay]

Thanks Dennis!! By the way, love RTTY and especially loved RTTY contests!Don't do much contesting with that mode these days, but if the stars line up right I still enjoy getting on that mode.73 JaySent from my Galaxy
-------- Original message --------From: Dennis Schaefer <dennisw5rz at gmail.com> Date: 11/17/22  2:13 PM  (GMT-06:00) To: ADXA <ADXA at mailman.qth.net> Subject: [ADXA] DXpeditions, RTTY, FT8. etc First, welcome to Phillip!  This is an active group and I think you will enjoy it.  Also, congratulations to Jay on being named a card checker.  That's a job that involves actual work and we appreciate all of you.I've been enjoying trying to get to a better DeSoto Challenge number, and have been chasing the DXpeditions.  So far, here's the score:D60AE - CW 40, 20, 17, 12, 10M.  SSB 20M.  Digital noneTY0RU - CW 40, 20, 12, and 10.  SSB 20, 17, 12, and 10. Digital 30, 15J28MD - CW 20, 17, 15, 10.  SSB - none.  Digital 15, 125V7RU - CW 20, 15.  SSB 15.  Digital 40, 30, 17, 15, 12, 10VK9CM - no contactsP29RO - CW - 12.  SSB 15, 10.  Digital 15, 10T88WA - CW 17, 12, 10.  SSB 15, 12, 10.  Digital 20, 12, 10A35GC - CW 40, 20, 17, 15, 12, 10.  SSB none.  Digital 15, 12, 10T33t - no contactsTL8AA/ZZ  CW 17,  SSB 20.  Digital 40, 30, 20, 17, 15.The obvious need is for antennas for 80 and 160.I've been intending to add to my dismal total on 30M this fall and winter but have been kept busy chasing these expeditions.  I'll get more CW and SSB contacts with the TL8's but they seemed to spend the first day or so on digital and I went ahead and knocked those off.  I have a theory about why FT modes have largely supplanted RTTY.  I love RTTY, the sound of it, and the fact that you can make contacts much faster than on FT8.  However, I looked at my Kenwood rig and it has FSK and FSK-Reverse on the mode buttons.  Then it has a separate setting to reverse the tones in the menu.  I seem to remember that the firmware had at least one of these settings backwards so you had to set it "wrong' to have proper tones.  I use Microham devices and the Device Driver has at least one place to set the RTTY tones.  I used MMTTY, and guess what....you have to tell it how you want the tones.  None of this is rocket science, and I'm certainly capable of coping with it, but with Joe Taylor's software, you install it, enter your callsign and grid square, and you're on the air.  CAT control helps, but that is also easy.  On the robotic thing - yeah, I think some guy in Europe wrote a robotic version.  I don't see why a good programmer couldn't completely automate CW, RTTY, PSK31, maybe even SSB voice. I'm sure it's been done.  Most of us sit right here and bang the key or push the buttons to make contacts on CW, RTTY, FT8, etc.  Some people record their calls and just push the buttons to make SSB contacts.   Nothing wrong with any of that.  Further automation is always possible, but I doubt if many want to do itthat way.
I haven't given up on RTTY and will probably set it up again one day 
when I have time.  However, I think I see why FT modes have become so 
popular.  They are not robotic modes, not weak signal modes, not low 
power modes - they are simply digital modes that are very easy to get 
set up.  I intend to use them as much as I need to in adding to my 
DeSoto points.  

73,Dennis
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://mailman.qth.net/pipermail/adxa/attachments/20221117/e94cb76c/attachment.html>