[PaQSO] PSK 31 and PAQP

[Hank Greeb]

Well, back in the mid to late 80's I operated SOAB 2 Radios for Field 
Day (I guess that's what it would have been called, but we didn't think 
of such at the time).  I operated 20/40/80 CW during Field Day, Single 
Op, All Band, QRP (Battery), and had a script on a 2 meter FM radio 
which sent all the info for a contact after the packet station connected 
with another packet station.  I also had everything which was appearing 
on the computer which was attached to the TNC also being recorded on a 
floppy disk.  (That was the daze before most computers had hard 
drives.)  I'd check it once ever couple hours to make sure the 720K 
floppy didn't get full (it never did). This unattended operation gave me 
perhaps 20 or 25 extra contacts - the logs are long gone - which helped 
place me 2nd/3rd/2nd nationally in Field day.   I don't see why an 
unattended packet station or PSK-31 or Feld Hell or RTTY station could 
not be set up and give the operator a few "free contacts."  Maybe the 
station would have to be on a different band from the main station - but 
sitting at a console monitoring mainly zilch activity. except for an 
occasional burst, seems the main "downer" getting more activity.

Activity breeds activity - who would expect a QRP station with a very 
modest antenna (proven to be a few dB better than a dummy load buried 6' 
under ground) being able to contact >50 stations in a bit over 2 hours 
on 10 meter SSB?  Yup, I started yesterday on 20 meters, found that all 
the 1.5+++ KW stations were drowning out my QRP Signal on 20 and 15, 
tuned in to 10 on a lark.  There's NEVER much activity on 10 even during 
CQ WW SSB...  WRONG!  The band was hopping,   "Wall to Wall, Treetop 
Tall" from below 28.3 MHz to above 28.7 MHz.  I even cranked my rig to 
the 28.5 to 29.0 MHz segment, and there were signals above 28.8 MHz.  
With a bit of persistence and timing learned from years of sneaking in 
amongst the "big guns" I snared several of the more popular Europeans 
and many who had apparently worked most of the "easy" stations and were 
calling CQ repetitively with only infrequent responses.

If you're gonna plug these newer digital modes - make it possible to 
operate a 2nd rig unattended without penalty to the main station.  In 
the early daze of promoting Packet in the 80's there was no mention of 
whether the packet station could operate unattended, the only rule 
specifically was that it did NOT count as a second rig.

Maybe the express permission in the rules allowing such "robo contacts" 
would entice some ops to develop software for PSK31/RTTY/Feld Hell/et 
nausea, and encourage folks to set up a second station specifically for 
one or more of these modes.  If a computer dunce like me could do this 
in 1984-86 or so, I'm sure most any 6 year old grandkid could develop 
such a routine inside the current software.

72/73 de n8xx Hg
QRP >99.44% of the time
Drake TR-5 S/N <999


On 10/27/2013 11:38 AM, Tom Williams wrote:
> My experience with digital modes in QSO parties is that it is not really
> worth the effort. The only one I specifically try to work with a few RTTY
> QSOs is the Salmon Run where the bonus station can be worked that mode for
> an extra 500 points. Even so, there usually ends up being only 2 or 3 QSOs.
> The NYQP coincided once with a RTTY contest and I was able to take advantage
> of working those guys for the NYQP. I just sent both exchanges.
>
>   
>
> I have had RTTY and PSK31 in the mobile for both the PA and NY QP's, but
> never heard any activity, nor did I get answers when I CQ'd for 5-10 minutes
> straight. I also tried a few PSK31 QSOs on FD and all I can say is it is
> definitely NOT a contest mode! YMMV, but I have decided to squash the idea
> of taking my audio cables and interface on future mobile excursions. The
> time is better spent working 240/hour rates from Cameron, Forest or Warren
> counties :-)
>
>   
>
> 73,
>
> Tom N2CU <><
>
> K3 #3582
>
>   
>
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