Many of the Olivia variants are much slower than typing speeds as well.
I've had Olivia QSOs that lasted more than 1hr.... I've also made Olivia
QSOs when there was nothing audible & nothing visible on the waterfall.
73, Ross N4RP
On 3/21/2014 1:39 PM, Mark Petiford wrote:
I accidentally "fat fingered" this directly to wunder instead of to the list,
so here it is again...I hope:
I am going to put a pitch in here for some of the "not so new" digimodes as a way to keep the hobby
interesting. RTTY has certainly been around a lot longer than 50 years...even longer than ME...and has a
beautiful sound. I find a bit more "conversation" there, but a lot more macros being used there
than 40 years ago. All we had back then was a CQ tape, a brag tape, etc. It kept you busier than a
"one-armed paper hanger" because you were literally hanging the paper tapes on the wall with little
pieces of masking tape on the end and loading the one you wanted to use next into the tape reader.Another old
fun mode that has been around longer than 50 years is Helschreiber, and all of its incarnations. It was one
of the very first attempts to send text via radio. Technically it is a facsimile mode (thank you spell
checker), with a scanner on one end sending a small picture of each text character and one the other end
reproducing it. It has a
fascinating history. I find a lot more conversation among operators using
that mode, probably because even the slowest of typists can keep up with it,
but the length of a conversation tends to be limited by propagation changes.
It does require some (not a lot) operator skill to tune in and to keep it tuned
in, similar to the days before waterfalls when you tuned RTTY by ear or using a
scope. It certainly isn't the ultimate mode (which is why it is so obscure),
but it is great fun to use it occasionally instead of PSK.Operating some of the
older modes is a bit like flying old airplanes. They generally require more
airman skill due to tailwheels, tailskids, adverse yaw, poorer instrumentation,
etc., but are great fun once you master them. Same with CW and some of the
other old modes. While my CW skill have deteriorated in part due to age
issues, it is beautiful to watch a couple of skilled CW operators running QSK
working together, and I am not
talking about code speed. It is even more fun to be a part of it. It is a skill that
I don't hear much anymore. The standard CW exchanges don't really do the mode justice
compared to a good QSK conversation between skilled operators.Tired of the same old PSK
"conversations"? Try one of the old time modes, or throw away the waterfall.
Do something different. It will make you a better operator and you will learn something
about the history of radio.73,Mark,
KE6BB
or as it was sent on a Model 19
TTY:-ltrs-ltrs-KE-nbrs-6-ltrs-ltrs-BB-CR-CR-LF-LF
______________________________________________________________
Elecraft mailing list
Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft
Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm
Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net
This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net
Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
Message delivered to n...@n4rp.com
--
FCC Section 97.313(a) “At all times, an amateur station must use the minimum
transmitter power necessary to carry out the desired communications.”
______________________________________________________________
Elecraft mailing list
Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft
Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm
Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net
This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net
Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
Message delivered to arch...@mail-archive.com
