[SFDXA] CW in Ham Radio

[Kai Siwiak]

Hi Sebastian,
That K3 is a lovely rig - got a chance to use one thru the night on CW 
during ARRL Field Day.

I'm sure that quite a few folks will answer you about RTTY on this 
reflector. There are two kinds of RTTY ops: the "traditionalist" who 
emulate the style and old terminology of wireline RTTY, and guys like my 
where RTTY is just another sound card digital mode.
RTTY is "traditional", but  I use  RTTY with rig set to upper SSB (same 
as I use for PSK31 and JT65), barebones MMTTY software, and no 
contesting except to snag a "new one".  The traditionalist have their 
stations honed for serious contest work, but that's not my interest.

A RTTY link is just a few dB below a CW path link, and about 12 dB 
better than SSB.
With software like MMTTY and the loggers that use it as the RTTY engine 
it is possible to just click on the signal in the display for instant 
tuning.  I guess that is how the DXexpedition ops do it.  I use RTTY 
because DXpeditions use RTTY and it is the only path to "digital DXCC". 
That is how I earned the WAS Triple Play Award (although, any digi modes 
count there). RTTY is not so bad for DXpeditions, however, listening to 
the pileups I conclude that comparatively few hams know how to operate 
DX-RTTY.  It is possible to get DX using QRP RTTY; N4II and I did it 5 
times using just 5 watts from K4FK.

While I am not a RTTY geek by any stretch of the imagination, I can say 
that using RTTY can increase your DXCC count. That is the reason to use 
RTTY.

Cheers and 73,
Kai, KE4PT

Sebastian, W4AS wrote:
> Time to brag about my K3, it can do the same (decode RTTY/PSK31 without a computer attached).  And you can even send RTTY/PSK31 with just the internal keyer, although I've never tried that.
>
> Having made very few RTTY QSOs over the years, I'm really puzzled as to why it's so popular - someone please tell me what I've been missing.
>
> To me, it appears to be the most inefficient mode for DXing and contesting.  Having listened to the HK0NA pileups on RTTY, the DX station has to exactly tune in to a caller, and may have to wait for the caller to repeat if the caller just stopped his transmission.  If another station obliterates that caller, then the DX station has to start all over again.  And of course there's no break-in or error correction.
>
> Compared to CW or voice, when a DX station can hear a partial call, and just say for example, "the N8 again".
>
> Not knocking the mode, I'd just like to find a RTTY geek who can tell me why I should use it more often
>
> 73 de Sebastian, W4AS
>
>
>
> On Feb 4, 2012, at 11:54 AM, Pete Rimmel N8PR wrote:
>
>   
>> Kai,
>>
>> My Icom 7600 does not need a computer to do RTTY or PSK31 It will send and 
>> receive both with a mini keyboard attached, not much larger than a paddle.
>>
>> PeteR
>>
>> -----Original Message----- 
>> From: Kai Siwiak
>> Sent: Saturday, February 04, 2012 9:48 AM
>> To: Bill
>> Cc: aSFDXA
>> Subject: Re: [SFDXA] CW in Ham Radio
>>
>> Hi Bill,
>> That's a great article with good reliance on reliable numbers, but it
>> misses a critically key point about technical performance. That is, CW
>> outperforms SSB by around  17 dB --  a power ratio of 50!  This means CW
>> can potentially talk 5 to 6 times as far as SSB.  Out of the three modes
>> that DXpeditions favor (CW, RTTY, SSB) it provides the best range. It is
>> around 3-7 dB better than RTTY.
>>
>> It is also the ONLY digital mode that can be done with just a radio and
>> with no additional computer.
>>
>> CW is not going away too soon!
>>
>> 73
>> Kai, KE4PT
>>     
>
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