[Elecraft] RTTY with the K3 alone

[Salvatore Irato]

Hi all.
Yes Jim you right.

Even with some difficulties, i.e. re-key each time the call sign of
the correspondent, it work better with an external keyboard. THis
using the K3/P# combo without a PC.

On the other side, using even a Net PC with just MMTTY,
But also the old and trusted MMTTY may work flawlessly. Both FSK or
AFSK. 2Tone is a great decoder and a great companion for MMTTY in FSK.
Those different setups depend on relevant interfaces that each of us
have on hands, PC capabilities and, why not, real estate of the
monitor/screen we have  ... that's clear. But still MMTTY alone and in
AFSK is well working. Not having all the N1MM Logger needs about
setup. Thus loosing the great 2Tone. But, please, when going with a PC
and MMTTY alone take care to get into the TX tones setup:
Option (O) > Setup MMTTY(O) > TX tab >  TXbpf.
There the standard  tap default value is 48, pushing the "f" key on
the left will show the simulated filter curve. To have a better AFSK
bandwidth set the tap value to 256 and up, press again the f button to
show simulated curves and effects on the output tones bandwidth. Tight
is better, bigger tap values are better. But they are somewhat CPU
intensive, be smart and use intermediate values with older
laptops.Make it better for others than the default, but be lower than
512 taps on single core, i.e. slow, machines.

        73 de iw1ayd Salvo

>
> Message: 2
> Date: Tue, 04 Feb 2014 10:15:38 -0800
> From: Jim Brown <jim at audiosystemsgroup.com>
> To: elecraft at mailman.qth.net
> Subject: Re: [Elecraft] RTTY with the K3 alone
> Message-ID: <52F12E4A.1030006 at audiosystemsgroup.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed
>
> On 2/3/2014 10:25 AM, Gary Smith wrote:
>> I haven't worked RTTY since 1982 or so and have a K3. I've read the
>> info here:http://www.elecraft.com/K3/k3_operating_tips.htm#RTTY  and
>> then the section on RTTY operation without a computer. And the pages
>> suggested in the manual.
>
> I've done this, but don't recommend it except when a computer is not
> available. A much better option is a P3 with the VGA module, which
> includes the ability to connect a USB keyboard via the P3. This setup
> provides very good display of decoded RTTY, CW, and PSK31 on the VGA
> display, the ability to send from the keyboard, and a bunch of memories.
> It uses the decoder in the K3, which is a VERY good one.
>
> A lot has changed about RTTY operation since 1982 (I did it then too).
> There are excellent software applications that generate both AFSK and
> FSK, and provide excellent decoding of signals with flutter and other
> distortions. MMTTY is VERY widely used, and there are several others. If
> you're running either WriteLog or N1MM, you can add a decoder called
> 2Tone to MMTTY, which allows you to have multiple decoders running at
> the same time. This can help a lot to minimize decoding errors.
>
> When I want to work a DXpedition, I use the combination of MMTTY and he
> P3 for decoding, again to minimize decoding errors. For RTTY contesting,
> I use N1MM with MMTTY and 2Tone.
>
> 73, Jim K9YC
>