OR HOW TO HAVE FUN WITH YOUR PC ON HF DIGITAL MODES

Presentation focuses on PSK31 RTTY approach is very much the same: just different frequencies There are dozens of other digital modes In your hand outs are links to web sites that will show you what these modes look like on the waterfall Lets get some terms straight first! OVERVIEW

Waterfall Display Macros Overdrive IMD (Intermodulation Distortion) Passband (Usually a 3000 hz range) RSQ (Readability, Strength, Quality) Varicode TERMS OF THE ART

HF RADIO Soundcard (internal or external) Macintosh or Windows PC Connecting Cables Software EQUIPMENT NEEDED

Yaesu 897D Yaesu 857D (Current mobile) Kenwood TS-590S (selling) ICOM IC-7100 RADIOS I’VE USED FOR PSK

DX Labs Suite (free) FLDigi (free) $$ Ham Radio Deluxe $$ AVAILABLE SOFTWARE

CONFIGURATION ONE Radio To Antenna PC Signalink

 Connect the Signalink to the CAT receptacle on the radio.  Connect the USB to the Computer  Signalink identifies itself to your PC as USB Audio Codec SIGNALINK SETUP

CONFIGURING SIGNALINK Radio CAT USB PORT ON PC

KENWOOD & ICOM RADIOS WITH BUILT IN DEMODULATORS ICOM 7100 PC OR MAC WITH USB PORT USB PORT

FLDIGI FREE SOFTWARE WORKS ON BOTH PC AND MAC BASED COMPUTERS FREQUENTLY UPDATED, OPEN SOURCE CODE ONE OF THE FEW PROGRAMS THAT WILL WORK IN THE MAC ENVIRONMENT WORKS WELL WITH SIGNALINK USB SOFTWARE

DX LAB SUITE ALSO FREEWARE ALSO FREQUENTLY UPDATED ONLY WORKS ON A PC GOOD SUPPORT FOR SOFTWARE ON YAHOO FORUM FAVORABLY REVIEWED IN QST IN DECEMBER LIKE HAM RADIO DELUXE IT IS A MODULAR DESIGN DX LABS SOFTWARE

HRD SOFTWARE COSTS $99 FOR FULL LICENSE ONE YEAR OF FREE UPDATES WITH LICENSE PURCHASE ONLY WORKS ON PCs GOOD SUPPORT FOR LOTW, eQSL.cc, QRZ, etc. DIGITAL MODES USES DIGITAL MASTER 780 HAM RADIO DELUXE

 Choose the right rig CAT controls  Personalize your copy with your name and callsign  Personalize your Macros FLDIGI SET UP

CHECK SOUND CONNECTION

CONFIGURE OP MODE

PICK A FREQUENCY

MACROS

CUSTOMIZED MACRO

CQ Macro (cq cq cq de ad0dq ad0dq ad0dq pse k) Answer macro ( de ad0dq ad0dq ad0dq pse kn) G2KU Macro: Name, age, location, locator, QSO macro: (station, software, antenna, S/N, IMD, QSL request) SK macro (thanks, have a nice life, you’re the 945 th person …) BTW macro ( de AD0DQ….) USEFUL MACROS

Most turn on the transmitter when selected Most transmit consistently to the end Most shut off at the end of the macro The closing or SK macro usually makes a log entry. COMMON MACRO FEATURES

 $99 product  Easy to configure  Offers remote configuration if you get stuck  Useful for more than just PSK/RTTY HAM RADIO DELUXE

CONFIGURE RADIO

RSID System (Reid-Solomon) Helps you see and react to new calls HELPFUL FEATURES

HOVER OVER TRACK

IDENTIFIES PREVIOUSLY WORKED STATIONS

PULL INFORMATION FOR MACROS FROM RECEIVED TEXT

FULL RANGE OF MACROS

AUTOMATED LOG ENTRIES

FULL WATERFALL DISPLAY

Courtesy of W4RK Most of the photos here showed bandwidth set very wide IMPORTANT TIP

Purpose of wide passband is to permit you to identify many signals. Sometimes, particularly with weak signals, that is counterproductive. To improve the S/N ratio on a weak signal, restrict your passband. While 2000 might show you a lot of band, it also brings in a lot of noise If you narrow your bandwidth to 250 or 200, you get a much cleaner signal IMPROVE SIGNAL TO NOISE

MAKING CONTACTS

FIND THE RIGHT FREQUENCY AND SIDEBAND USB is standard May or may not want Preamp on

SET YOUR POWER RIGHT

CHECK YOUR ALC SETTING Adjust this back by turning down the volume on the Signalink device, or otherwise directly adjusting ALC on your radio

TURN OFF SPEECH PROCESSING

ADJUST YOUR PREAMP Preamp OnPreamp Off

FIND A SIGNAL ON THE WATERFALL PSK 31 signals Find someone calling CQ

As noted, tuning the receiver to put the signal in the middle of your passband, and then reducing the passband down to 250 – 150 will improve signal to noise ratio. TUNE TO CENTER

WATCH A FEW FIRST

NOTE WHAT INFO IS EXCHANGED

If you use Ham Radio Deluxe, macros can give you fits. The macros supplied with the software are dated around There are dozens of helpful macros that you can modify. But if you modify the standard macros, any modifications are not saved. You have to create your own set of macros, which can be handy When I did PSK at Frankenstein, I had my own Special Event macros When I make contacts from Missouri, my macros are different than when I am in Alabama or Florida There are up to 10 different sets of Macros in HRD AVOID THE NOID

Get experience by answering CQ calls first. Then try some CQ calls. Some people want only reports-and-off Others want to rag chew Whatever you like, you can find it. Good DX’ing folks! FIRE UP YOUR MACROS!