Having been in Navy MARS in college and later AF MARS after military service, there did not seem to be that much difference from amateur radio net procedures, so that is why I was wondering why the difference considering the extra work that has to be involved in forking the program. Maybe MARS needs more broadcast modes since more of their transmissions are based upon one to many?
In terms of CAT PTT, aren't you using some of the same interfacing with RS-232 serial connection for rig control? It seems a step backwards to set up two RS-232 serial ports considering that we also need to convert from USB. I admit that the ICOM CI-V might be less than perfect and could hang up in TX mode as I have had this happen. For unattended operation, maybe you would need a separate PTT, but for most users, keeping it as simple as possible commensurate with adequate rig control seems to me to be the goal with modern interfacing. While the Rigblaster interfaces are used by many hams, I am not that impressed with their design if it requires two serial ports and I am not sure if they completely isolate both audio lines. One of the most common interfaces seems to be the Tigertronics which keys the PTT line using computer audio, but I definitely do not recommend that approach:) To meet the spirit, and perhaps the legal requirements of Part 97, all ALE programs need to be able to monitor all transmissions. The last thing we need is a replay of Pactor modes which are problematical in monitoring and many of us, if given the choice, would ban the use of such modes. 73, Rick, KV9U Steve Hajducek wrote: > > MARS-ALE although based on PC-ALE differs in a number of ways, > basically its tailored to meet the needs of MARS members and is not > in competition with PC-ALE for two-way usage by the general Amateur > Radio community. G4GUO and I work closely and both tools benefit from > that collaboration. > > The Pegasus supports CAT PTT, even the Jupiter does, but only using > Pegasus emulation mode, why Ten Tec does not have CAT PTT ON/OFF > commands in the Jupiter command set of a supposedly SDR radio blows me away. > > The only time that I recommend the use of CAT PTT for for ALE > operations when someone is using an otherwise VOX interface of any > type as the latency for PTT activition with ANY such device is not > fast enough in my opinion. > > I think you will find on a whole and especially within the ALE > community that RTS/DTR hardware PTT is the standard to this day, just > look at all the RigBlaster and other interfaces being used ( where if > such an interface is the choice and RTS/CTS handshaking is being used > either DTR for PTT or again the use of CAT PTT with such units in the > Vox position would be used). > > PC-ALE is not the only means for Radio Amateurs to decode ALE and > follow on transmissions and it is certainly not the tool used by the > various regulatory agencies such as the FCC. If you want to monitor > all the DTM and DBM traffic there are a number of software based > options available, some free and some commercial that utilize the PC > Sound Device Modem, MultiPSK does so, MARS-ALE can be downloaded and > used for such purposes as well with Listen Mode enabled, thousands of > Amateurs and Utility monitoring users have been doing so from what I > am told, see: http://www.n2ckh.com/MARS_ALE_FORUM/ > > > As I stated, ask away here or via the HFlink forum and I will answer > to the best of my abilities. > > I truly see the benefit to the Amateur Radio Service (ARS) of ALE, > especially for ECOM, HF traffic automation, SELCAL and Propagation > Analysis, however my main focus is MARS-ALE development, in time I > may take a more active role within the ARS ALE scene and PC-ALE > development as well, at present my main contribution to PC-ALE is the > radio control library. > > PC-ALE is the most complete software based ALE modem/controller > available to the ARS, free or otherwise, it can't help but be > successful within ARS ALE circles. > > /s/ Steve, N2CKH > > > > > Announce your digital presence via our Interactive Sked Page at > http://www.obriensweb.com/drsked/drsked.php > > Yahoo! Groups Links > > > > > > >
