[GreenKeys] HAL ST-8000 (New Toy)

[Kevin H. Phillips]

Bill,

I have an ST-8000 that I've used a lot for RTTY contesting.  I have used 
it to key FSK first on a Yaesu FT-1000 and now on a Yaesu FT-2000D.  I 
have noticed the slight tilt in the ellipses that you mention.  If I 
remember correctly the manual only shows examples for 850cps and maybe 
425cps (??); not 170cps which is most commonly used now.  I generally 
tuned by ear and watching the signal strength meter on the radios.  I 
occasionally had a few people tell me I was off frequency so I started 
running the audio through my computer and watching the scope on MMTTY as 
a back-up method.  I tend to think that the feedback I was getting 
actually was due to some other problem than my tuning.  I didn't have 
any problem with 99.9% of the stations I worked.  Anyway, using MMTTY 
and getting the ellipses at perfect right angles there, I noticed that 
the pattern on the 8000 would become rather "small" when the ellipses 
were brought into those exact positions.  It's like the finer the tuning 
resolution, the smaller the pattern would become.


Congratulations on the acquisition.  I love my 8000 and wouldn't want to 
part with it.  When I become a Silent Key I'm sure my wife will be happy 
to pry it out of my cold dead hands and either pass it on to some other 
ham or, more likely, toss it in the trash.


73

Kevin

W5TTY


On 5/4/2018 4:40 PM, William Wuttke wrote:
> Thanks to Joe Gilliam, I’m now the proud owner of a legendary HAL 
> ST-8000. I never expected to be able to own one of these rare modems. 
> I’ve spent the past few days familiarizing myself with the manuals and 
> the unit. (A set of pdf manuals was graciously provided by Colleen at 
> halcomm.com <http://halcomm.com>.) The only thing I really had to do 
> was adust the CRT display centering and intensity controls. So far, 
> I’ve tested with all 3 ITTY feeds and actually copied yesterday’s W1AW 
> bulletin using my recently restored KWM-2 as a receiver. I copied 
> about 99+%. During the transmission, signal varied from S7 to S1 due 
> to fading, with a couple of complete dropouts. The only time I 
> actually had errors was when the signal totally dropped out.
>
> I finally got the MIC (AFSK/PTT) connector in the mail today and made 
> up a cable for the transmit side. I need to do some testing first, but 
> plan to get on the air soon with the ST-8000, ASR-33, and KWM-2. The 
> ST-8000 makes it easy to use a model 33 using the regeneration feature 
> (plus 20ma loop to RS-232 adapter) - plugs right in. I wonder how many 
> hams still use RTTY for normal QSO’s. I guess I’ll soon find out.
>
> For those who own ST-8000’s: I’ve never used the crossed ellipse 
> tuning indicator before and wonder what I should be seeing. With the 
> standard 2125/2295 45 baud signal, the ellipses are somewhat “tilted”. 
> The MARK is a little clockwise from horizontal and the SPACE is 
> somewhat counterclockwise from vertical. Is this normal?
>
> Having fun with my new toy,
>
> Bill
> KE3BK
>
>
>
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