On Sun, Feb 28, 2010 at 6:10 PM, g4ilo <julian.m...@theparklands.co.uk> wrote:
> To be honest I think the basic problem is just that there isn't enough space > on the busy bands for all the people who want to use a 2.2kHz wide digital > mode to use it. Because of all the QRM you just end up making the same > contacts you could make with PSK31 but using 20 times the bandwidth > > Julian, G4ILO This is a key point, one that I am sometimes guilty of forgetting. I STILL think ALE is best method of establishing a QSO/contact. Establish the contact and switch to a mode that suits the conditions. ALE , of course, has its own problems, a wide mode, and some people dislike the unattended operations. Perhaps we can invent a new digital QSO calling method , essentially establishing just one or two modes that are used to initiate a QSO. , Using a mode that is "average" in terms of bandwidth and also in terms of throughput/robustness? This would be in "zone 1" of the band . "Zone 2" would be the area of a band suited for wider digital modes but again, you would only CQ in one well known and easy to use wider- mode (Olivia ?) In Zone 1 the initial CQ and response would exchange signal report and callsigns only, then based on generally approved concepts , would switch to one of perhaps 4 other modes with significantly varying throughput and bandwidth. Of course, there are modes that do this automatically (PACTOR and Winmor), but they are not widely used. I doubt we could get digital mode operators to change habits (we can't even persuade most RTTY ops to even TRY some non-RTTY modes), but rather than change thousands of PSK31 users, maybe we can change the non-PSK31/RTTY digital mode users (us ?) . Regardless of where you are operating , call CQ in PSK31 , when someone answers choices would be Zone 1 2-way signals are 339 or below switch to Olivia or ROS 2-way-singals are 449 to 549 stay with PSK31 (or perhaps MFSK16) 2-way-signals are 559-599 switch to PSK125/250, RTTY Zone 2 Initial CQ in Olivia 1000/16 2-way signals are 339 or below switch to Olivia 1000/32 or ROS16 2-way-singals are 449 to 549 stay with Olivia 1000/16 2-way-signals are 559-599 switch to a NARROWER mode PSK250-63 , RTTY Where a band has no clear "wide mode" allocation, , or very little bandwidth at all , Zone 2 type communication would never be expected. This may be too radical to be well received and adopted by the average digital ham. Instead of everyone having varying patches of territory and calling plaintively looking for that rare ham that actually uses the same obscure mode, the digital portions of a band would have PSK31 (or MFSK16) calling CQ over a much wider range of frequencies then switching as conditions dictate. A CQ might start with PSK31 and result in a QSO that ends in PSK250. The only dilemma then would be, do you revert to calling CQ in PSK31 after the QSO or "QRZ?" in the mode that ended the QSO. That might just have to be up to the individual ham to decide. Example bandplan 14070-080 "narrow mode QSO zone " CQ in PSK31 14081-14099 RTTY, 14101 Packet , 14102-14110 Wide mode QSO fzone . CQ in ROS 16 or Olivia 1000/16 No need to list any individual modes except RTTY and packet. Andy K3UK R = READABILITY 1 -- Unreadable 2 -- Barely readable, occasional words distinguishable 3 -- Readable with considerable difficulty 4 -- Readable with practically no difficulty 5 -- Perfectly readable S = SIGNAL STRENGTH 1 -- Faint signals, barely perceptible 2 -- Very weak signals 3 -- Weak signals 4 -- Fair signals 5 -- Fairly good signals 6 -- Good signals 7 -- Moderately strong signals 8 -- Strong signals 9 -- Extremely strong signals
