[Elecraft] PSK tuning [k3]...alternatives for the immediate

[Lu Romero]

The K3 manual states that the PSK31 and RTTY functionality
is "adequate for CASUAL use without a computer" or something
like that.

If youre somewhat SERIOUS, you would be much better off to
use external decoders to do any "REAL" work on those modes. 
I dont think it the built in PSK and RTTY modes were really
designed for "serious" work.  Like the Icom rigs with built
in decoders and encoders, there are some compromises.  They
are just very convenient to use.  The RTTY demod is pretty
good, tho, and I wish we could output decoded text from the
serial port... 

The RTTY capability is especially nice for the times when
your spotting program emails your phone to tell you that Mt
Athos is on 20m RTTY and you have to jump out of the pool,
run and get a towel, partially dry off while running through
the house to turn on the rig, swing the beam, flip on the
solid state amp and try to work the elusive monk without
waiting for Windows to boot and MMTTY to run.

-lu-w4lt-


Date: Thu, 12 Aug 2010 12:31:38 -0400
From: John Ragle <tpcj1r03 at crocker.com>
Subject: [Elecraft] PSK tuning [k3]...alternatives for the
immediate
    future
To: elecraft at mailman.qth.net
Message-ID: <4C6421EA.7080106 at crocker.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed

     Please don't take this comment to be frivolous or
intentionally 
snippy...but my take on the decoding functions built into
the K3 
firmware is that at this stage they are gimmicks or toys.

     As Ron observes, even an old warhorse like Digipan
works much 
better (...more easily, less fussily...) than the K3
routines (and I 
love my K3!). When one considers the range of other digital
methods 
available in, e.g. fldigi, it is apparent that Elecraft is
thinking in 
the right direction but is not all the way there, YET.

     I use Digipan or fldigi (3.12.5) routinely with my K3
without 
problems. For digital mode operation, SpectraVue is also a
very nice 
adjunct program.

     I have every faith that Elecraft will eventually
enhance the 
digital decoding functions in the K3. One will still want
something like 
SpectraVue to provide a window into the digital ops part of
the spectrum 
(or an LP-PAN or a P3, if funds permit). Eventually it will
be nice to 
be computer-free if one desires it...portability would be
enhanced 
somewhat, though a small laptop (e.g. a netbook) is not much
different 
in volume from an LP-PAN or a P3. My small ASUS Eee901 runs
software 
like Digipan and SpectraVue without flinching.

     I am not at all a Luddite WRT new solutions...just very
oriented 
toward functionality. This is also the reason that I rid
myself of my 
Flex 3000.

John Ragle -- W1ZI

=====

On 8/12/2010 11:46 AM, Ron Herman wrote:
> How does one tune PSK31 on the K3 such that the built in
decoder can
> read it. Tuning seems to be very selective and without a
waterfall
> nearly impossible to tune. The capture range of the AFC
doesn't seem
> to be very wide. The CWT spotting function sometimes helps
but only
> on stronger signals. Sensitivity to weak signals doesn't
seem to be
> very good either. With digipan on the PC I can decode
stuff that I
> can hardly hear.
>