[FARC] PSK Questions

Mon Jul 9 13:51:15 EDT 2007

Yes, there is a popular package out now called WinWarbler which does RTTY, 
CW, PSK31, SSTV and other digital modes.  It is a suite of digital ham 
programs. Supposedly it is freeware. However, I tried to download it from 
the web and the download for the WinWarbler component fails every time. The 
error message indicates that the download site doesn't exist any more.  For 
the other components in the suite that did download and install, there was 
no uninstaller for them.  So BEWARE!

I've searched the web over and over looking for digital Ham software that 
is, how do I put this, certified as a "quality" product. I know that most 
software of any type on the market today is buggy, even from the corporate 
giants, but honestly this ham freeware is just pure "use at your own risk" 
stuff.  Even the ARRL won't sanction what it sells for digital software and 
adds a disclaimer saying so.  Some would say, "What are you complaining 
about, it's free."  And I would agree.  WinPSK works well for PSK31 on the 
Rigblaster, my computer doesn't lock up or shut down, and WinPSK doesn't 
lose its own components so I'm happy.

You're right about Rigblaster.  I also would add that setting it up wasn't a 
picnic either.  I'm a "plug n' play" type of guy, not a guy who likes 
fiddling with circuit boards and jumpers and such.  The Rigblaster Plus 
comes new out of the box with the component case open just so you can do all 
the configuring that is necessary in there. Changing programs, radios, or 
microphones requires changing the jumper configuration inside, so you can't 
ever screw the case closed and leave it there.  Strangest design of any 
off-the-shelf product I've ever seen. Must have been manufactured for 
electronics wizards who want to customize the product.  I do wish the 
advertising would indicate that however.

Correction. The popular 20 meter frequency for SSTV is 14.23000.  14.07015 
is a popular frequency for PSK31.

73
KB3ONM
Kirk

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Bob Moroney" <windbrkr at erols.com>
To: "Frederick, Maryland ARC" <farc at mailman.qth.net>
Sent: Sunday, July 08, 2007 2:22 PM
Subject: Re: [FARC] PSK Questions

> Kirk,
> If you haven't already, you may want to look around on the web and see
> what else is available for PSK and the other modes.  It sounds as though
> the West Mountain Radio CD is "frozen in time", from when they first
> brought out the RigBlaster product some years back.  At the time they
> were the first and only "easy" way to interface between sound card and
> radio, but soon were overtaken by imitators like MFJ and a couple of
> innovators who built on the concept.  I believe the freeware available
> has moved on since then as well.
>
> On the quality of your SSTV images, have you tried fiddling with the
> various bandwidth filtering, noise reduction and/or DSP settings on your
> receiver?  Could make a difference...
>
> 73, Bob K9CMR
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> Kirk Talbott wrote:
> > Bob,
> >
> > Thanks for the link to the WinPSK user's guide PDF.  It would have been 
> > nice
> > to have had this when installing and setting up WinPSK for the first 
> > time,
> > but the CD that came with freeware for the Rigblaster Plus did not 
> > include
> > it.  I had to use HELP files in the program and fumble around a while to 
> > get
> > it set up right.  The program is easy to use and is recommended for
> > first-time PSK31 users by the Westmountain Rigblaster folks.  After 
> > reading
> > the manual a few minutes ago, I found that I did have the program set up
> > right.
> >
> > Why WinPSK? I checked out various freeware programs for PSK on the CD 
> > that
> > came with the Rigblaster. Many of them had software bugs and glitches 
> > and
> > were so complicated to configure that I gave up on them.  For example, 
> > in
> > one program the help files kept disappearing, requiring reinstallation 
> > of
> > the program.  Most programs had no uninstaller.  Other programs were not
> > freeware or were only operational and free for "X" number of days.
> >
> > WinPSK is usable in a limited form.  To get the full-featured version 
> > they
> > want you to register and buy the program at a price that is more than 
> > half
> > that of the Rigblaster unit.  However, I can use enough features of the
> > limited version of WinPSK that it will be fine for what I want to do 
> > with
> > it.
> >
> > For SSTV I use a freeware program called MSCAN. It is simple to use and 
> > has
> > minimal configuring. I tune to 14.07015, listen for the warbling, and 
> > wait
> > for pictures to come in.  I haven't had a good quality picture yet, and 
> > it
> > only takes one signal fade or static burst or someone talking on the
> > frequency to mess it up.  It's kind of neat though to see how the other
> > modes work.  If I had better antennas or perhaps a better location, I 
> > might
> > get better quality pictures.
> >
> > And speaking of "dated" software and manuals, most of the ham software 
> > and
> > related publications I've seen seem not only dated but archaic. A few of 
> > the
> > programs on the freeware CD I got with the Rigblaster were DOS programs.
> > Some required setting up auotoexec.bat files, and for hardware the 
> > vaunted
> > Intel 486 CPU and math co-processor with AT LEAST 256 MB of RAM was 
> > needed
> > What's bad about this is that it "dates" me and I know just what they're
> > talking about.
> >
> > 73
> > KB3ONM
> > Kirk
> >
> >
> > ----- Original Message ----- 
> > From: "Bob Moroney" <windbrkr at erols.com>
> > To: "Frederick, Maryland ARC" <farc at mailman.qth.net>
> > Sent: Saturday, July 07, 2007 11:11 AM
> > Subject: Re: [FARC] PSK Questions
> >
> >
> >
> >> Kirk,
> >>
> >> I found a WinPSK user guide on the net at:
> >> ftp://det.bi.ehu.es/pub/ham/psk31/winpskuser11.pdf .  If you haven't
> >> looked at it, it may answer some of your questions.  It looks a bit
> >> dated, but it suggests that the "PPM" number has to do with the
> >> calibration of your individual sound card vs. an ideal value.  It
> >> doesn't seem to mention the IMD indication, which might have been added
> >> in a later version.  Another site has an explanation of IMD relative to
> >> PSK: http://www.psb-info.net/IMD-Measurement.html .  It confirms your
> >> suspicion that lower is better.  If you Google on "psk waterfall
> >> display", you'll find a good bit of information on what the display can
> >> reveal, plus its limitations.
> >>
> >> Most of what I've seen on HF SSTV is folks' QSL cards or snapshots with
> >> the sending station's callsign added, and that's about it.  It's TV in
> >> the sense that it's transmitted video capture vs. fax or other scanned
> >> material, but it's definitely not full motion video.  As with any HF
> >> mode, "band conditions" (propagation+RFI+EMI+BCI+etc.) seldom combine 
> >> to
> >> enhance signal quality, so what you get out of your speaker or on your
> >> display will almost always be less than perfect, sometimes way less...
> >>
> >> 73, Bob K9CMR
> >>
> >> Kirk Talbott wrote:
> >>
> >>> I have some questions about PSK31 and Slow Scan TV for the group.
> >>>
> >>> One:  Hams on PSK31 use a Morse code shortcut language.  For example, 
> >>> a
> >>> typical CQ looks something like this. "CQ CQ CQ de W4XXX W4XXX PSE k."
> >>> I
> >>> know what the "de" and "k" stands for but what does "PSE" mean? 
> >>> Another
> >>> example is the signoff.  "KB3ONM de W4XXX W4XXX 73 sk sk sk."  What 
> >>> does
> >>> the
> >>> "SK" mean?
> >>>
> >>> Two:  On my software, WinPSK, there are some numbers displayed at the
> >>> bottom
> >>> of the screen below the waterfall window.  One is IMD the other PPM. 
> >>> A
> >>> read
> >>> a little about IMD and found that it stands for
> >>> Inter-Modulation-Distortion.
> >>> Ok, but what does that mean?  My interpretation of the reading I've 
> >>> been
> >>> doing, a high numbered IMD means you're distorting and splattering all
> >>> over
> >>> the place and low a number means you're getting close to a perfect
> >>> signal.
> >>> It's kind of like mic gain in SSB phone. And like SSB phone, too low a
> >>> mic
> >>> gain means you're not putting out enough "punch" in your signal. Does
> >>> too
> >>> low an IMD number in PSK31 mean the same thing?  As for PPM, I have no
> >>> idea
> >>> on what this means and can't find any info on it.
> >>>
> >>> Three:  I had one of my contacts give a signal report that went
> >>> something
> >>> like this.  "Your RST is 599, and the waterfall display shows a near
> >>> perfect
> >>> signal."  Ok, I understand what "599" is, but the reference to the
> >>> waterfall
> >>> display and the near perfect signal has me baffled.  What are they
> >>> looking
> >>> at in the waterfall that shows a near-perfect signal? My software,
> >>> WinPSK,
> >>> is freeware and pretty limited.  So maybe it doesn't show what other
> >>> more
> >>> sophisticated programs do.
> >>>
> >>> Four:  SSTV seems neat, but I can't seem to receive a signal strong
> >>> enough
> >>> to get a decent picture.  The letters TV in SSTV seem a bit of a
> >>> misnomer.
> >>> You can't really use video in slow scan TV....right?  What I see 
> >>> mostly
> >>> on
> >>> SSTV are pictures that look like travel agency posters; beaches and 
> >>> palm
> >>> trees, mountains and lakes, etc. with call signs written on them. Is
> >>> this
> >>> all there is to SSTV?
> >>>
> >>> Since June 26 I've had 38 PSK31 contacts.  I was going like 
> >>> gangbusters
> >>> there for a while.  July 4 and yesterday, I couldn't get one contact. 
> >>> On
> >>> SSB
> >>> phone I didn't even hear one person on 20 or 10 meters, and I heard 
> >>> only
> >>> 2
> >>> people on 40 meters.  Sometimes on PSK31 I can contact Texas on 15 
> >>> watts
> >>> output, but then need 75 watts output to communicate with Florida.  HF
> >>> is
> >>> really "fickle" isn't it.  Analogous to fishing.  Throw your line in 
> >>> the
> >>> water and sometimes they're biting and sometimes they're not.  F. Gump
> >>> had
> >>> it right about a box of chocolates and it applies to HF. "You never 
> >>> know
> >>> what you're going to get."
> >>>
> >>> 73
> >>> KB3ONM
> >>> Kirk
> >>>
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