First, is it really ALE as used currently? I am not sure that the recent tests of this "mode" have actually used it in the form of establishing an automatic link. I know it can be used this way , but do not see this. If it is not really ALE, what should it be called ?
Second, the performance of ALE 400 FAE file transfers between Sholto and myself last night was simply astonishing . Late at night (0400 UTC) we passed a files east coast to west coast USA with audible signal levels around S1 or less. 20 meters , I was on a vertical running 90 watts. 100% copy (it is ARQ) in a fairly reasonable amount of time with expected amounts of re-tries. So, regardless of whether this mode is used in automatic link establishment , it really has to be considered as a very reliable method of transferring short files under very poor conditions and much longer files in good conditions. Well done Patrick! So, in addition to NBEBS ARQ MFSK16 and ARQ PSK, we now have and even more robust mode that beats its way through the QRN and low sun spot conditions. Andy K3UK
