[Lowfer] WE2XGR/2 PSK31 and QSO

[jrusgrove at comcast.net]

First, thanks to all (Mitch, Todd, Fred, David, Steve, Ralph, Laurence, Dex) for the reports and 
comparisons.

> PSK31 was good copy but took many more errors than THOR16.  Most PSK31 errors occurred during 
> static crashes.

As learned previously on 185 kHz, 137 kHz...and now 500 kHz, the modes with FEC are much more static 
resistant. Without FEC there's no chance of recovering the chars blotted out by static.

The MFSK (and MFSK like modes) can be slow to resync after a fade. This was less of a problem on 185 
and 137 kHz since the fades are fewer, slower and not as deep as on 500 kHz.

The best mode for 500 kHz? Hard to say...but FEC is probably important.

For those that haven't seen the comparison of various 'keyboard' modes on 600 meters, the following 
might be of interest.

http://www.w1tag.com/600M_Modes.htm

Jay W1VD  WD2XNS  WE2XGR/2