Re: [digitalradio] Re: IZ8BLY's PSK63F

2010-01-08 Thread Tony
Skip, 

It's good to see that there is a correlation between the path simulator results 
and real world sensitivity testing. White noise tests show that DominoEX4 does 
have the same 3db sensitivity advantage you mentioned over DominoEX8 and PSK63F.

> we did extensive testing this morning on 70cm between PSK63F and DominoEx 4, 
> and DominoEx4, even under 
> the severe, fast Doppler shift almost always on that band, was significantly 
> better copy than PSK63F. The minimum > required S/N of PSK63F compared to 
> DominoEx 4 also hurt its relative performance compared to DominoEx 4 in 
> QSB.

I can see how the minimum SNR would come into play. I know it's easier said 
than done, but It would be interesting to repeat the tests while signals were 
adequately above the minimum SNR threshold required for PSK63F and DominoEX8. 
That would eliminate any signal strength issues and help reveal the true 
Doppler performance of each mode. 

It would help to have a recording of the signals so we can analyze the Doppler 
spread using a high resolution spectrogram. This would give us a better idea of 
what's going on and should reveal other frequency shifting characteristics such 
as aircraft Doppler. 

It would also be useful to have statistical data on the Doppler spread found on 
over-the-horizon VHF / UHF propagation. Troposcatter seems to be responsible 
for daily openings on VHF / UHF. I'll have to look on the net.  

> If you could make simulation tests between PSK63F, DominoEx 4 and DominoEx 8, 
> it would help us find 
> out the best mode to recommend for VHF/UHF. We will be making more real world 
> tests again this week 
> on both two meters and 70cm. 

No problem Skip.   

Tony -K2MO

 
- Original Message - 
From: hteller 
To: digitalradio@yahoogroups.com 
Sent: Thursday, January 07, 2010 9:17 AM
Subject: [digitalradio] Re: IZ8BLY's PSK63F


  
Tony, we did extensive testing this morning on 70cm between PSK63F and 
DominoEx 4, and DominoEx4, even under the severe, fast Doppler shift 
almost always on that band, was significantly better copy than PSK63F 
when signals were just over the noise. The minimum required S/N of 
PSK63F compared to DominoEx 4 also hurt its relative performance 
compared to DominoEx 4 in QSB. We did not have time to compare to 
DominoEx 8, which is roughly the same speed as PSK63F, but our previous 
tests between DominoEx 4 and DominoEx 8 showed that on VHF and UHF, 
either SSB or FM, that the 3 dB minimum S/N advantage of DominoEx 4 is 
very necessary. Signals at 200 miles are almost always just above the 
noise on SSB phone or DominoEx 4 on 70 cm. That is why operators on 
those bands are called "weak signal" operators!

If you could make simulation tests between PSK63F, DominoEx 4 and 
DominoEx 8, it would help us find out the best mode to recommend for 
VHF/UHF. We will be making more real world tests again this week on both 
two meters and 70cm.

73

Skip KH6TY

> __
> 1a. IZ8BLY's PSK63F
> Posted by: "Tony" d...@optonline.net kt2q
> Date: Mon Jan 4, 2010 12:52 am ((PST))
>
> All,
>
> Recent path simulation tests indicate that Nino Porcino's PSK63F 
> offers better performance over PSK31 and PSK63 in a couple of areas. 
> The most significant improvement is it's ability to endure Doppler 
> spread found on paths that cross the polar ionosphere. Both PSK31 and 
> PSK63 fail miserably in this area; see high-lat test samples below.
>
> Path Simulation: High Latitude (Moderate) Path Delay: 3ms, Doppler 
> spread 10Hz
> Pangram Text: Quick Brown Fox
>
> PSK63F -- the quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog
> PSK63 -- mev roe tt#dtorl|f- bn ô mp e o ihe Fzy dg
> PSK31 -- nls oSer Òe naAeta qlipM h nV o T rn agâ o
> RTTY -- TH QACKH492, FOJUMP OR THTLAZY G
>
> Sensitivity-wise, it's quite a bit more sensitivity than PSK63, but 
> only marginally better than PSK31. Although it's speed is about 25% 
> faster than PSK31, it's about 40% slower than PSK63. Average wmp rate 
> seems to be 63 wpm for PSK63F.
>
> Lowest S/N (sensitivity)
>
> PSK63F -12db
> PSK63 -7db
> PSK31 -11db
> RTTY -5db
>
> Additional path tests indicate that PSK31 and PSK63F perform about the 
> same under moderate mid-latitude conditions (CCIR fading channel). 
> Tests show that PSK31 and PSK63F will outperform PSK63 when signals 
> are weak under quiet conditions since they both have greater sensitivity.
>
> It would be interesting to hear from our HF digital friends up north 
> who experience the distorting effects of the polar ionosphere on a 
> regular basis; this is where the PSK63F mode can be put to the test.
>
> Available software:
>
> Nino Porcino's Stream -- http://xoomer.virgilio.it/aporcino/
> Patrick Lindeckers Multipsk -- http://f6cte.free.fr/index_anglais.htm 
> (thanks for including PSK63F Patrick)
>
> Tony, K2MO
>
> 




[digitalradio] Re: IZ8BLY's PSK63F [3 Attachments]

2010-01-08 Thread Tony
Phil, 

> It would be valuable to the community to be able to recognize the presence of 
> Doppler spread by some visual or 
> aural means. 

There are times when the effect can be detected by sight and sound. Even a 
moderate disturbance in the polar ionosphere can cause enough Doppler spread to 
make HF voice communications sound hollow or as if the signal was emanating 
from under water. The same applies to CW and digital mode signals.   

Visually, narrow band modes like PSK31 will appear dispersed (spread out) 
compared to others in the waterfall. The individual tones that make up 
wide-band signals (MFSK) will also appear diffuse. Other visual indications of 
Doppler induced frequency dispersions caused by signals that propagate over the 
poles, would be the chaotic movement of the PSK31 tuning indicator. 

Although there are times when Doppler spread is too small to be detected, it 
can still cause throughput problems with certain modes. The amount of 
throughput loss depends on the severity of the Doppler spread and how resistant 
the mode is to that type of distortion. Narrow modes like PSK10, for example, 
are especially sensitive to small frequency spreads (1Hz) and can suffer 
throughput loss on a relatively quiet mid-latitude path. 

The reflecting surface of the ionosphere is somewhat similar to the surface of 
a pool of water where waves are traveling in all directions. As sunlight hits 
the pools surface, the motion of the waves cause the light to scatter at 
random. With RF waves, the motion of the ionospheric irregularities cause 
random shifts in frequency creating wavelets around the main signal (see 
attached: Normal vs. Doppler spread). 

Doppler spread is more pronounced in the active regions of the auroral and 
equatorial zones than it is in the mid-latitudes. Its common to see an increase 
in the effect on long distance contacts since the signal will eventually end up 
near those regions. How much it effects digital mode throughput depends on the 
state of the ionosphere and the mode in use. 

As for PSK63F, it combats this type of distortion much better than standard PSK 
modes. 

Tony -K2MO

- Original Message - 
From: Phil Williams 
To: digitalradio@yahoogroups.com 
Sent: Tuesday, January 05, 2010 8:49 AM
Subject: Re: [digitalradio] IZ8BLY's PSK63F


  

Demonstrating a suite of digital coding methods are vulnerable to Doppler 
spread does not tell the whole story.  What does the signal look like on the a 
spectrogram when subjected to Doppler spread?  Yes, you have incomplete or 
scrambled text, but then the root cause of that could be anything.

It would be valuable to the community to be able to recognize the presence of 
Doppler spread by some visual or aural means.  Armed with this information then 
one begins to make choices of other modes that would be less vulnerable to the 
effects of Doppler spread.

philw de ka1gmn


On Tue, Jan 5, 2010 at 2:13 AM, Tony  wrote:

  
Phil, 


> What about PSKFEC31 under the same test scenarios?  

Have a look: 


Path Simulation: High Latitude (Moderate) 
Path Delay: 3ms, Doppler spread 10Hz
Pangram Text: Quick Brown Fox



PSK31FEC

 t e tio E ttaeH loo etee- e e e ˆyaooe n o
 ao t aeepvede n neete ueeeu .tna0 o een
it=pctidr a ieae t e tio E ttaeH loo etee- e e 
etˆyaooe on oe ne 6etnuEenoel o·b geogtee 



PSK63F

the quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog
the quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog
the quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog

Tony -K2MO




- Original Message - 
From: Phil Williams 
To: digitalradio@yahoogroups.com 

Sent: Monday, January 04, 2010 5:16 AM
Subject: Re: [digitalradio] IZ8BLY's PSK63F


  
Very interesting.  What about PSKFEC31 under the same test scenarios?  
Certainly, there would be more a in throughput, but that is a matter of some 
liberal use of CW shorthand.


philw de ka1gmn


On Mon, Jan 4, 2010 at 2:48 AM, Tony  wrote:

  
All,

Recent path simulation tests indicate that Nino Porcino's PSK63F offers 
better performance over PSK31 and PSK63 in a couple of areas. The most 
significant improvement is it's ability to endure Doppler spread found on 
paths that cross the polar ionosphere. Both PSK31 and PSK63 fail miserably 
in this area; see high-lat test samples below.

Path Simulation: High Latitude (Moderate) Path Delay: 3ms, Doppler spread 
10Hz
Pangram Text: Quick Brown Fox

PSK63F -- the quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog
PSK63 -- mev roe tt#dtorl|f- bn ô mp e o ihe Fzy dg
PSK31 -- nls oSer Òe naAeta qlipM h nV o T rn agâ o
RTTY -- TH QACKH492, FOJUMP OR THTLAZY G

Sensitivity-wise, it's quite a bit more sensitivity than PSK63, but only 
marginally better than PSK31. Although it's speed is about 25% faster than 
PSK31, it's about 40% slower than PSK63. Average wmp rate seems to be 63 wpm 
for PSK63F.

Lowest S/N (sensitivity)

PSK63F -12db
PSK63 -7db
PSK31 -11db
RTTY -5db

Additional path tests indicate that PSK31 and PSK63F perform about the same 
under moderat

[digitalradio] CSS to release The PK-232 25th Anniversary Software CD

2010-01-08 Thread Mark Thompson
CSS to release The PK-232 25th Anniversary Software CD


Muscle Shoals AL, January 5th 2010: 

Creative Services Software announced today that ham can pre order the PK-232 
25th Anniversary Collectable CD. This collection of software is limited to 
10,000 copies. It includes: 

• PakRatt for DOS 
• PkFax for DOS 
• PakRatt Lite 
• PakRatt 2.3 for Windows 
• Pkterm ‘99 
• Wefax ‘99 
• Pacterm for Windows 
• Wefax for Windows 
• Radio Operations Center for AEA/Timewave 
• Wefax Ops for AEA/Timewave 
• PDF manuals for all the programs are included! This way, those that have lost 
their manuals can print them out again! 

Company President Rick Ruhl, W4PC, said, “The conception of the PK-232 in 1985 
was a leap forward in Ham technology. For the last 25 years, over 100,000 
PK-232 have been sold and tens of thousands are still in use. The re-release of 
the DOS and Windows 3.1 software, which now all have Y2K fixes, is to show how 
far development has come since those early days of the PC and the PK-232. These 
older programs will not be sold separately, but only in this anniversary 
collection.” 

CSS and Timewave are also including pictures of older advertisements from AEA 
and Timewave has given CSS special permission to include PDFs of the AEA 
catalogs. For ham radio operators, this is a golden opportunity to own a piece 
of ham history, as the collection will only be available during 2010. Each copy 
will be numbered and have a certificate of authentication included. 

A pre-order price of $139.95 is available at the CSS online store at 
http://www.cssincorp.com. Customers who purchase the pre-order will get the 
latest copy of Radio Operations Center sent to them along with their special 
serial number that will work with all the products on the 25th Anniversary 
collectable.
__
Check out the Radio Operations Center for Kantronics and Timewave and Emcomm 
Ops for the MFJ TNCs at http://www.cssincorp.com



  



[digitalradio] NZ4O Propagation Forecast #2010-02

2010-01-08 Thread Thomas F. Giella NZ4O
The NZ4O Daily LF/MF/HF/6M Frequency Radiowave Propagation Forecast #2010-02 
has been published on Friday 01/08/2009 at 1400 UTC, valid  UTC Saturday 
01/09/2010 through 2359 UTC Friday 01/15/2009 at 
http://www.wcflunatall.com/nz4o3.htm .

73 & GUD DX,
Thomas F. Giella, NZ4O
Lakeland, FL, USA
n...@arrl.net




Suggested frequencies for calling CQ with experimental digital modes =
3584,10147, 14074 USB on your dial plus 1000Hz on waterfall.

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