In the grand scheme of things, the old MIL-STD-188-141A form that we can legally use is very rare other than one group that sends out HF beacons. I had hoped at one time that we could use this for public service/emergency use but being one of the very few hams worldwide who actually tried to use the system, was actually attacked because I had a lot of difficulty trying to get it to work. I was actually criticized for being stupid, not really wanting it to work, etc. I was appalled at this behavior as many others were and it has insured even less interest by many of us.
One individual claimed huge numbers of hams using the system but it proved to be completely false. I pointed out that I monitored their web site that displays world wide connections and found that over several days, other than the beacon stations, I was actually one of the most active, if not the only other station using it for messaging! Their solution was to completely block me from even accessing the web site so that those of us who can answer your question, are kept from doing so. Needless to say, when you do this to your friends, you don't need enemies. The truth is that the older ALE technology from the 1970's is not going to be used by hams. I have since asked many hams about this and the response was extremely negative and parallels some of my experiences. Having said that, the more modern "ALE" modes, such as MIL-STD-188-110A are not legal for U.S. hams on HF so they are going nowheres. Even if they were legal, testing by hams in other countries indicate that signals have to be very good for this to work, especially with sound card techniques which currently do not have the robust signal capability at the slowest 75 bps speed. As you point out, if there really was an significant use, it would be very apparent to those of us who monitor the HF bands everyday. What is clear, is that most hams don't do digital, but for the few that do, it is mostly PSK31 and RTTY, with an occasional Olivia, MFSK16, or other mode that they might be testing. When a new mode is developed, there may be a flurry of activity for a few days or weeks, but unless it is superior to what we already have, and few have been, then you may not hear much about the mode after that. Right now the best chat and messaging mode that I have used is FAE400 which is a narrower and slower version of MIL-STD-188-141A. This is the only currently available sound card mode that works fairly well into the noise, can provide both chat and messaging ARQ error free connections. But there are few who use it. 73, Rick, KV9U Dave Bernstein wrote: > > >>>> I wonder what fraction of amateur radio QSOs are initiated and sustained >>>> with ALE. Anyone know how many amateur QSOs are typically initiated each >>>> month? Anyone know how many amateur QSOs are typicaly initiated with ALE >>>> each month? >>>> > > 73, > > Dave, AA6YQ > > >
