[Elecraft] K2 QQuestion on Options

[Dave Wright]

On Wed, Jul 13, 2011 at 9:48 AM, Tony Estep <esteptony at gmail.com> wrote:

> On Wed, Jul 13, 2011 at 8:20 AM, R Thompson <ve8rt at xplornet.com> wrote:
>
> > .... I'm not a fan of digital modes...he only sent the info that was
> > pre-programmed in to the function keys.....
>
> ===========
> You mean you didn't get into ham radio so you could find out some guy's CPU
> clock speed and the brand of his coax?
>
> But digital does have its uses. Sometimes you can only get 'em on RTTY, or
> even PSK -- I just got a LOTW qsl from PP0T. In the month he was there, I
> heard him only once, and it was on PSK.
>

There is a LOT more to digital modes than just PSK and push button QSOs.
Many of the non-PSK modes are preferred by people who like to simply rag
chew.  Modes like Olivia and Feld-Hell are very popular with rag chewers and
their performance can be superior (especially Olivia!) to PSK-31 as well,
which supports QRP operations or operations past peak-propagation times.

Also, keep in mind that many digital ops are not good typists, or don't
speak English as a native language.  Macros allow everyone to communicate
regardless of native language or typing ability.

If you come across a guy that only wants to push buttons, let him.  Odds are
that the next QSO will be someone who wants to rag chew.  If not, then the
next one. Etc, etc, etc. And, some ops do make it known beforehand, using CQ
macros like "CQ CQ CQ rag chew de K3DCW K3DCW k".  However, I find that
there is a lot less worry if you just take the QSOs as they come...push
button or rag chew doesn't matter, I personally enjoy the QSO regardless of
the content.



73

Dave
-- 
Dave
K3DCW
www.k3dcw.net

"Real radio bounces off of the sky"