Bonnie, From my frequent monitoring, I would have to say that the only really popular mode is PSK31. It is not uncommon now to have more PSK31 signals within a 2.3 KHz passband, than even cw signals during a contest. Like this weekend you might find 4 to 6 cw signals but you would find up to 12 PSK31 signals in the "watering hole" on 20 meters.
From time to time there are other digital modes being used, of course, and Olivia seems to be the third most common, (after RTTY keyboarding), even though no where near the concentration of PSK31. What I would like to see are some practical bandplans that have a recommended spot frequency for digital modes. We do have that by default now on 20 meters for the .070 PSK31, and similar areas on 40 and 80 meters. The RTTY operation is often about 10 KHz higher as you point out. But except for contesting, RTTY is not as popular anymore as other digital modes and probably will drop off even more as older hams become SK. No one has any particular claim to any part of any band, other than being able to work in the regulated areas for digital or for those who follow bandplans, within the bandplan recommendation. If you go to the ARRL site and look at their bandplan recommendations, one realizes that they do not distinguish between digital modes except for the automatic subband area that they call packet. Everything else is called RTTY. If we had a spot frequency that was recommended for newer modes that have not had a de facto "watering hole," like PSK31, then we could start from there and if the frequency was busy, move up to the next available slot. As it stands right now, there can be Olivia, or Domino, or MFSK16, etc. over fairly wide areas and it is very easy to miss a call. Since there are not that many stations that work these modes, it would reduce the number of times that calls are made with no response. Another consideration is the dearth of digital operation (except for Pactor e-mail) on 30 meters. I have called many times on this band and had no luck with other stations being around. If you have to make a sked via the internet to even work a mode on a given band, that doesn't say much about that mode:( But when I compared the recommendations between say Region 1 and 2, they don't even agree on where data modes should be operating on 30 meters. Region 1 is 10.140 and up and Region 2 is 10.130 to 10.140 if I read it correctly. Maybe it would be wise to have a domestic starting frequency and a DX starting frequency? For example, I have often moved just above the commercial RTTY station near 10.130 and called. Maybe I should move up to 10.140 dial frequency and then try 10.141 or 10.141.5? In the final analysis, there are way too many new different digital modes, used very infrequently, to have special subbands, but they could have a recommended starting frequency for calling. Otherwise my rule of thumb is to see where the last PSK31 station is operating and go just above that and start calling with whatever mode de jour I happen to be using at that time. Comments from others? 73, Rick, KV9U expeditionradio wrote: > Olivia is now popular for digital keyboarding. > Since Olivia has so many possible modes in it, > there is a search for a 500Hz starting point. > > I propose that we, as a group of Olivia operators, > use 14076kHz-14079kHz, as a centre-of-activity > starting point for Olivia 500/8 . > > Olivia 500/8 (or 500/16) USB Dial Frequencies proposed: > 14075.5 > 14076.0 > 14076.5 > 14077.0 > 14077.5 > 14078.0 > > 14076-14079kHz is compatible and recommended by the IARU Region > Bandplans for all regions of the world for (500Hz) digital > keyboarding modes. > It is compatible with the Amateur Radio rules of most countries. > http://www.hflink.com/bandplans/ > > Between the PSK activity (14070-14073) and RTTY activity > (14080-14089), it may attract new operators for Olivia QSOs. > > A few digital keyboarding modes share this frequency range, > and the keyboarding activity is very similar to Olivia, such as > MFSK, etc. > > Bonnie KQ6XA > > > Need a Digital mode QSO? Connect to Telnet://cluster.dynalias.org Other areas of interest: The MixW Reflector : http://groups.yahoo.com/group/themixwgroup/ DigiPol: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Digipol (band plan policy discussion) Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/digitalradio/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
