[Lowfer] A knight at the Opera

[Laurence KL7 L]

A1a after too many pints or...

Slurred Cw - used to have an Opera code like scenario with Soviet trawlers coming on net with one too many Vodkas or worse,and for the life of me I had to guess whether they were asking permission to come into port, asking for potable water (most likely), sending a "TR" or just swearing at me.

Suggest Opera is revised name to either "slurred A1a" or "Vodka" mode.

Laurence 
Past life as a coast station and deep sea radio op (never would call myself an occifer)






> On Dec 5, 2013, at 16:38, jrusgrove at comcast.net wrote:
> 
> It's ROS mode that's involved in the spread spectrum controversy. OPERA mode is simply on off keying.
> 
> Jay W1VD  WD2XNS  WE2XGR/2  WG2XRS/2
> 
> 
> ----- Original Message ----- From: "JD" <listread at lwca.org>
> To: "Discussion of the Lowfer (US, European, &amp;UK) and MedFer bands" <lowfer at mailman.qth.net>
> Sent: Thursday, December 05, 2013 8:06 PM
> Subject: Re: [Lowfer] Looking for 73 kHz band modes to try...
> 
> 
>>>> Opera is not legal to tx in the US, FCC thinks it is a spread-spectrum mode.
> 
> Actually, Cliff, that's what its own, er, inventor called it, way back when.
> Perhaps they took his word for it.  It's not really SS, of course.  It uses
> no energy-spreading techniques; it's merely frequency agile.
> 
> But it's still not legal below 50 MHz in the US amateur service for a much
> more fundamental reason...the same reason WSPR and PSK31 and others *do not*
> meet the published Part 97 requirements on HF, either!
> 
> In 160m and all relevant segments of the HF bands through 12 meters where
> RTTY and data are permitted by Sec. 97.305, Note 3 of 97.307(f) also
> applies:  "Only a RTTY or data emission using a specified digital code
> listed in §97.309(a) of this part may be transmitted. The symbol rate must
> not exceed 300 bauds, or for frequency-shift keying, the frequency shift
> between mark and space must not exceed 1 kHz."  (At 10m, it's Note 4
> instead, which is exactly the same except for a 1200 baud symbol rate.)
> 
> Well, obviously the baud limits and the maximum frequency shift are not the
> problem.  But if you follow on to 97.309(a), you find that there are only
> three coding methods specified for RTTY and data emissions...5-level Baudot,
> AMTOR, and ASCII.  That's all!
> 
> Unspecified codes _are_ permitted by Notes 5 and 6, but those notes apply
> only within bands above 50 MHz.  Thus, OPERA and the other aforementioned
> modes are legal up there, with a few restrictions.  And, Part 5 licensees
> are not under the requirements of 97.309(a) at all, so there's presently no
> problem using any of these modes in the US at LF and VLF.
> 
> (QRSS employs International Morse, the coding method explicitly defined for
> CW in 97.3(c)(1) and permitted virtually everywhere in the ham bands by
> 97.307(a).  Hellschreiber is an image mode, on which few specs are stated in
> the Rules other than bandwidth limits, so no problem there either.)
> 
> But assuming we do someday get 2200 and/or 630 meters in the amateur
> service, one of two things will need to happen before it's legitimate to use
> popular digital modes in those bands:  (1) there will need to be yet another
> new slow mode that does, in fact, utilize one of the currently specified
> codes; or else, (2) developers of this sort of software will need to get
> together and agree on a nice, efficient varicode they can all get behind,
> publish it, and then petition the FCC to include it in the specified codes
> of 97.309(a).  I have no doubt most of us here would gladly support such a
> petition.  Then some variant of each of these worthwhile digimodes would be
> legitimate for American ham use in all bands.
> 
> 73
> John
> 
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