[SFDXA] Jim's GAZETTE Newsletter #117

[Bill Marx]

Jim's GAZETTE
Newsletter #117
5 March 2002

Please feel free to forward this newsletter to any and all interested parties, or to reproduce it in
any other publication. All we ask is that you give credit where it is due.

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SHORT NOTES: Forgive me for being 24 hours early, but tomorrow the house will be filled with construction people. And, I will be out
of touch. Hopefully, it will
be done soon!

 Bill K9GWT of HAL Communications reports that the P-38 modem is not discontinued. Units are on hand and the company will be happy
to fill your order at any
time. The PCI-4000 is another matter. It is available only in special runs of 50 or more copies. Call Bill if you are interested. By
the way, the latest software update
for the P-38 supports the use of sound cards and the waterfall display for all modes Clover to PSK-31. The update is free and is
available from www.halcomm.com.

Version 1.32 of Mailwasher is now at the website at www.mailwasher.net. No need to uninstall the earlier version before installing
1.32. Just double click the .exe file.

The Anatolian WW RTTY Contest will be run on 18-19 May. ANARAD is the sponsor and their website is at
www.qsl.net/ta4kg/rtty/anatolian.html. Talat TA4BS
is the head man and can be reached by Email at anarad@ttnet.net.tr.

Dayton is just around the corner! All kinds of plans can be made and confirmed at www.rttyjournal.com. This year the RTTY world will
be located at the Howard
Johnson Hotel. It's $85 per night, plus taxes, of course. Don't forget to reserve seats at the two dinners! Frank N2FF will once
again moderate the forum. Program to
be announced.

The DigiPan website has been discontinued. But don't worry. It's simply been moved to another one.
Http://mywebpages.comcast.net/hteller/digipan/ is the address
now. Please note that the current version remains 1.6d. V1.7 is not yet ready for release.

Google.com, my favorite search engine, has been enhanced. Bill NA2M picked up the address from PC World magazine and thinks it is
pretty neat. Try it at
www.ilor.com.

Lots of Internet bandwidth got invested in discussing the PW0T operation.Operating split, the DX station seemed confusing to some,
chaotic to others. Many referees
were on frequency as well so the situation really screwed up. 'UP' 'UP' 'UP,' typed the referees. Barry W2UP was sure he was being
called! Finally, some said, things
became a bit less hectic. But Ekki, DF4OR, reminded us all of what the real problem might be. 'During the last three days I tried
H40T, PW0T and TI9M, all in vain.
It requires all my patience and restraint not to send some cruise missiles to certain stations who call simplex and deliberately jam
the DX frequency. Since the invention
of the DX Cluster, every moron knows where the DX is located . . . my father taught me to be patient and listen and figure out the
pattern of the DX station before
calling on the wrong frequency.' Amen!

I've never made a mistake before, but George W2TUM called my attention to a mistake made by my informant! This has to do with the
20:02 20/02 2002 comment,
wherein I suggested it would be another 1001 years before a similar thing happens again. Actually, George points out that it will be
only 110 years and will take place
in 2112. I guess I can wait to see if he is correct. Then I will admit my error!

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Peter G3PLX presented his 'Natural Law of Frequency Allocation' in Newsletter #116. His thesis suggested that broader bandwidth
creates more QRM than it
suffers, thus, any band plan should put modes of similar bandwidth in the same space. His proposal stimulated a fair amount of
activity among those with an interest in
Pactor III, an emerging mode using 2.4 kHz of spectrum.

First off, Joost ZS5S circulated a portion of the Newsletter to all the mailboxes around the world. Among the responses was an
important one from Vic Poor
W5SMM. The father of Aplink and Winlink, Vic is a very knowledgeable guy when it comes to digital operation on HF.

Vic pulled no punches. He stated, 'I agree with G3PLX on this one. The view that like bandwidths should share their own sub-bands
reduces to a minimum conflicts
between modes.' He goes on to point out that Pactor III should move up the dial and join HF Packet, another wide mode (300 baud is
equal to 1.5 kHz of space).

Then, to my surprise, Vic suggested that those who use Pactor III should avoid using 20 or 40 meters because of the load these bands
already carry. 80, 30, 17 and
15 meters provide adequate propagation for the Winlink user community.

All of this suggested peace and quiet until the next Email arrived. Rudolf HS0/DL1ZAV who operates HS0AC jumped in with a loud
voice. 'HS0AC has NOT
cleared the QRG 14.072.5 / 14.069.5 and will not clear these QRG's ! It will not change till I give up Ham Radio. And if Pactor 3 is
available than HS0AC will use
it!' (Note that the complete text of these two Emails are contained in the thread at www.n2hos.com/digital/peter.html).

Rudolph's tough response was enough to suggest to me that a little research might be in order. So, I took the latest list of classic
Pactor MBO's (published monthly by
ZS5S) and ran down the list of scanned (standard center) frequencies for each station. Much to my surprise, there is far more
scanning activity in the PSK area than I
had imagined. No wonder we see so many of those twin tracks on the waterfall.

Vic's note suggested that Winlink sysops had agreed to abandon 14070-72. I checked only the over-scanned 20 meter frequencies and
found that the following
Pactor MBOs are scanning in areas that might well present problems for PSK-31 fans.

9Y4IBN: 14071.4**AL7PI: 14068.9 and 69.9**DJ6HH: 14070.4 (one of 8 frequencies scanned on 20M!!)**F3KT: 14070.9**F6FUB:
14070.9**I5FLN:
14068.9**N7QDN: 14068.9 and 69.9**OH2NPE: 14069.9**OK0PBR: 14068.9 and70.9**VK2AAB: 14070.9**VK2OG: 14068.9**W4NPX: 14069.9 and
71.9**WU3V: 14069.9 and 70.9**DK0MUN: 14069.4**JA8HK: 14069.8 and 71.9**K1UOL: 14068.4**ON0BEL: 14068.4 and 69.9, 70.9**OZ4SCA:
14068.4 and 69.45, 70.9, 71.9**SV1IW: 14068.9 and 70.9
T90BOX: 14069.9 and every kHz to 89.9**W7IJ: 14068.9**WA1URA: 14068.9 and 70.4**KA6IQA: 14070.9.

Keep in mind that standard center frequencies are not the same as the upper side-band numbers used by PSK. But, also keep in mind
that, while PSK utilizes only 31
Hz for its low power signal, Pactor gobbles up several times as much. Any splatter adds to the problem. Just take a careful look at
your waterfall and you'll have
some idea of the difference. Pactor III, if used by the stations listed above, would totally swamp the PSK space and much more both
up and down the current digital
space.

Clearly, G3PLX has it right. Pactor III must move up the band into the HF Packet arena or their will be open warfare between it and
all other forms of digital
communications. And, while the world awaits the new Pactor product, perhaps more and more of the MBO's could follow the lead of
sysops like ZS5S and K4CJX
who skip way over the narrow modes by scanning below 14064 and above 14074. That's the spirit! That's Natural Frequency Allocation!



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73 de Jim N2HOS jem@n2hos.com
http://www.n2hos.com/digital