[Elecraft] Digital Voice, was: New KX3 up & running.

[Walter Underwood]

Dave Rowe is doing some exciting work with digital voice, all open source specifications and code. It isn’t appropriate for rig firmware yet, because he keeps improving it!

You can run FreeDV on a computer or get the outboard SM1000 box ($195). That does the coding and has an audio bypass mode so you can leave it in-line.

http://www.rowetel.com/blog/?page_id=3902 <http://www.rowetel.com/blog/?page_id=3902>
https://freedv.org/tiki-index.php <https://freedv.org/tiki-index.php>

wunder
K6WRU
Walter Underwood
CM87wj
http://observer.wunderwood.org/ (my blog)

> On May 4, 2016, at 7:55 AM, Bill Frantz <frantz at pwpconsult.com> wrote:
> 
> The real problem is which codec and transmission protocol do you use. Icom has D-Star, and Yaesu, instead of supporting D-Star which might have improved digital voice uptake due to larger critical mass, decided to push out its own protocol. (I think they were listening to their commercial division which wants to lock customers into using only their gear. IMHO, that's not ham radio.)
> 
> Note that with D-Star, the only proprietary part of the protocol is the codec. If you use the chip which supports the codec, you are covered on the intellectual property issues. For me, the supreme irony is that both Icom and Yaesu use the same chip, but can't talk to each other.
> 
> The other issue is that under weak signal conditions, FM is likely to be better for getting the message through than either of these digital voice protocols.
> 
> There is a open source protocol which is used on HF, but I don't see much activity using it.
> 
> As far as Elecraft is concerned, there just isn't usage to justify the engineering time. We didn't see PSK63 support until after the Europeans were running PSK63 contests.
> 
> 73 Bill AE6JV
> 
> On 5/4/16 at 8:05 PM, elecraft at mailman.qth.net (Michael Heit via Elecraft) wrote:
> 
>> I have to wonder if a firmware upgrade in the future may allow digital voice from the KX3?
> 
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