[Elecraft] [Elecraft-KX] Peter Martinez And The CW-To-PSK31 Feature

[Jim Brown]

On 2/6/2023 8:36 PM, Wayne Burdick wrote:
> The key idea that led to the PSK31 and RTTY decoders was this: that a ham receiver should be able to demodulate all commonly heard signals and display them on the front panel, without resorting to a computer. That was around 2005, though. Since that time many new data modes have been added that made this less practical, but RTTY and PSK31 are still in widespread use

When I tune the bands, I hear RTTY only during contests. RTTY used to be 
common with DXpeditions, but was replaced several years ago by FT8, 
because of its ability to provide QSOs to marginal stations is 10 dB 
better than CW. I gave up on PSK31 after the third brag tape. That was 
more than 10 years ago. There are far higher priorities for Elecraft's 
development activities.

I love the modes that Joe Taylor and crew have given us -- they're a 
major weapon against the RF noise that has grown exponentially over the 
last two decades. Using FT8, one guy with 100W to a compact vertical 
provided a new country from Crozet, a very rare and remote entity that 
hadn't been on the air for decades. I and many neighbors worked him 
easily on 30 and 20, a nearly 10,000 mile path. When I worked him, he 
had 7-9 dB of headroom for FT8. Oh -- and unlike the mess on 30M CW with 
the Bouvet team, there's no one tuning and or callling him on up on his 
frequency, no helpful clowns sending UP UP ASS ASS, over, and over, and 
over again. Their words, not mine.

Sure, CW has been my favorite mode for 66 years. But not THAT kind of 
CW. I'll proudly log the FT8 QSOs.

73, Jim