Martin, Thanks for you complete reply. I appreciate your taking the time. My comments are below.
On Tue, Apr 23, 2019 at 9:20 AM Martin Davies G0HDB <marting0...@gmail.com> wrote: > > Frank: > > If the station you want to work is concurrently transmitting multiple > (typically 3) signals 60Hz > apart, and conducting multiple simultaneous QSOs, within a 'standard' FT8 > band segment > then it'll be almost certain that the station is NOT operating in true F/H > DXpedition mode but > is instead using one of the derivative apps such as MSHV. > > To work such a station, should you wish to do so (although some people > discourage it), it's > NOT NECESSARY to switch your mode to Hound; you can work them using the > standard > FT8 mode. OK. Then a few of the stations I worked who were transmitting other-than-normal messages were of the derivative type. However, often, the program puts up a screen that says I should switch to F/H mode. I assume these are genuine F/H signals. Indeed, I'm puzzled as to why you feel it's necessary to toggle seemingly > quite > often between standard and Hound mode; the latter should only ever be > necessary when > you're trying to work a DXpedition, most (if not all) of which will have > declared in advance > which frequencies away from the standard segments they will be using for > F/H mode. There > should never really be a need to change your system to Hound mode when > you're operating > in the standard band segments - it doesn't matter if you're trying to work > a local or some > exotic DX. > I don't believe I ever stated anything about the frequency of toggling F/H ON or OFF. It's just that when a F/H signal appears, it would be convenient to get into that mode as quickly as possible, since they are often weak, and QSB takes them below the useful signal strength. A DXpedition is usually active for a week or more. When one is coming in on FT8, I switch to that band and frequency, toggle the F/H mode from OFF to ON, and try to work them. Once I work them (or they fade out and I lose patience), I again toggle the F/H mode from ON to OFF, and look for less exotic DX. With ten bands of interest, this means that in two weeks, I could toggle the F/H mode between OFF and ON many times. When there are no DXpeditions active, of course I don't need to toggle it at all. I don't believe that most people toggle F/H mode to ON when there is a DXpedition active and leave it there for the duration. > > You stated in another email: > > > I have responded to stations in F/H mode in the regular band segment on > > numerous occasions with no interference from the software. This > screen-grab > > shows Hound mode in the regular band segment. > > There's nothing in your screen-grab to indicate that any of the stations > are operating in either > true F/H mode or even in a derivative multi-channel mode such as MSHV, so > why are you in > Hound mode? > Someone wrote that the software prevented using Hound mode in the regular band segments. I was just demonstrating that this was not the case. I didn't actually transmit, since I saw no stations in Fox mode. > > If you've been switching to Hound mode whenever you want to try to work a > DX station I have not. The large majority of DX stations I have worked have been in the normal mode. However, with 265 DXCC entities and 1233 band-entities confirmed on LOTW, and band conditions as bad as they are, working new entities without the benefit of a DXpedition at the distant end is getting harder. Since I mostly hunt new band-entities, I don't generally work DX that already have confirmed on that band. So the ratio of F/H contacts to regular contacts is going up. > With regard to being able to use Hound mode in the standard band segments, > I've > discovered that if I select my specific Hound configuration which excludes > all the standard > frequency segments (my frequency list for Hound mode only includes the > declared > DXpedition frequencies, eg. 14095kHz), then there's nothing to prevent me > from manually > retuning the rig down to 14074kHz and then transmitting within the > standard segment. > Perhaps the software developers could take a look at explicitly preventing > transmissions in > the standard segments whenever Hound mode is selected, irrespective of how > the frequency > is set. > That was my point, above. So it would also be true that a DX station (or anybody, really) could switch to Fox mode in the regular band segment. > > You also stated, in another email: > > > I tried that, and it worked fine, switching between F/H and normal mode, > > and switching Split between Rig and None. Until I closed and restarted > the > > program. The first time I switched configurations, the S/W complained > that > > I needed to use Rig or Fake It for the Split parameter. Once I reset it, > it > > worked fine again. > > Does this mean that you only select 'Split' operation when you change to > Hound mode? Why > would you not use 'Split' when operating in normal FT8 mode? There's no > earthly reason not > to, especially as it provides the benefit of ensuring that your audio > tones are always in the > 'sweet' range between 1500 and 2000Hz, thereby helping to minimise the > potential for 'bad > audio'. > I'm using the Flex Radio 6600, which is an SDR, so there is no "sweet spot." The desired signal is computed mathematically and then realized by a high-speed D/A convertor. One could conceivably enter a negative frequency offset, which would result in transmitting below the "carrier" (QRG) frequency in USB, but this would be really confusing, so the software in the radio/controller blocks this. Transmitting anywhere in the set passband provides the same result. When I was using my FTdx5000MP, I left the Split mode in "Rig." But the 5K is an analog rig, with some DSP built-in. > > The use of Split is all-but essential for slick operation in Hound mode, > which is presumably > why the software complained if you changed to a Hound configuration > without one or other of > the Split options being selected. > Yes, exactly. But when switching to F/H mode, I also had to switch to Split operation, which took more time. Since some DXpeditions have very weak signals at my QTH, I have to work them quickly, before they fade out. Since I never change the Hold Tx Freq or Call 1st parameter, it seemed reasonable to suggest putting something I do occasionally use on the main screen and relegating never-used functions to the maze of the menus. > > -- > Martin G0HDB > > Thanks again for your well-thought-out reply. Frank KF6E
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