Date: Sat, 6 Jan 2001 07:43:30 -0500
From: "'Geri' Kinzel, DK8KW" <DK8KW@compuserve.com>
Subject: LF: PSK31 and other modes with Forward Error Correction
To: rsgb_lf_group@blacksheep.org
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Dear LF group members,

browsing in the AMRAD e-mail list archive I found a message posted by
Andre, N4ICK, quoting an original message by Andrew J. O'Brien (see below).

Under 

                http://users.mesatop.com/~ghansen/ 


you can find a new PSK31/RTTY/ASCII, etc. program for Soundblaster use,
that was written by KD5HIO. This program contains some experimental type of
forward error correction (FEC) to the various modes. Also MFSK16 and a mode
called HFSK16 is implemented. These modes use a variety of tones, bandwidth
is in the range of 250 Hz.

Markus, DF6NM and I have tested PSK31 and since Markus' signal is just in
the region of my local noise level, plus the normal QRN that we have on LF
make normal PSK31 only 70% succesful, we have recently tested QPSK.
Obviously receprion was a little bit better using that mode.

We plan to check the other modes, too, in the next couple of days to find
the most reliable way of keyboard-to-keyboard for weak s/n ratio signals.
So if you hear some strange signals, tones, etc. on and around 137.500 kHz,
this is most probably us. I will enable CW-identification.

Besides that, I still run normal CW from time to time and had a nice first
QSO with HB9DCE this morning.


Best 73

Geri, DK8KW (W1KW)

---------------------------------------------------------------------------
--------------------  


"Andrew J. O'Brien" wrote:

> Hamscope 1.2 Reviewed
> By Andy KB2EOQ
> (this review may be distributed without restriction)
>
> Well, with the CCCC Millennium Multi Digital Mode contest taking place
New
> Years Day , what better way to test out KD5HIO's Hamscope.   Hamscope,
> available at http://users.mesatop.com/~ghansen/ , is the latest entry
into
> the vibrant Windows based ,soundcard driven , digital radio world.  As
the
> most recent entry , the author has found time to incorporate many varying
> digital modes all into one software package.  Most digital software these
> days includes PSK31 and RTTY (TrueTTY, Zakanaka, et al) but Hamscope is
only
> rivaled by MixW in the choice of modes that one can select.
>
> Available modes are
>
> BPSK31
> QPSK31
> RTTY
> ASCII7
> ASCII8
> MFSK16
> HFSK16
> CW
>
> Missing are the increasingly popular Throb, the much advocated MTTY, ye
olde
> PACKET, MT63,  PACTOR, CLOVER, and the altered versions of PSK and MFSK
> (PSK63/125 and MFSK8/4).  However,  Hamscope is a very full featured
program
> and a welcome  addition to the digital ham's repertoire.
>
> Installing Hamscope
>
> Hamscope installed on my AMD K2 500 PC with 64 megs of memory without any
> problems.  Within seconds of  executing the install program,  I had a
very
> carefully thought out screen displaying RTTY, PSK31, and MFSK without any
> problems.  The macros are nicely laid out and easy to edit.  They are
> essentially the same in appearance to those in Digipan.  You have 36
macros
> to choose from but . unlike Zakanaka,  not all can be displayed at the
same
> time.  Hamscope, like Digipan, requires that you click an arrow to see
the
> next bank of macros.
>
> As mentioned earlier, MixW is the only program that has as many modes as
> Hamscope.  However Hamscope is vastly superior to MixW in terms of
> appearance and the general feel of the program.  MixW generally performs
> well (although RTTY is mediocre) but it's help files are very disjointed
and
> have caused many a ham to feel frustrated. Hamscope on the other hand, 
is
> most pleasing to the eye, and the intuitive computer user will find
> themselves operating the digital world with hardly any need to consult
the
> help files.
>
> Okay, so how well does it perform?  I tried CW, MFSK, BPSK31, and RTTY
and
> had  generally positive results.
>
> CW works well and I could see no appreciable difference between MixW and
> Hamscope's ability to copy CW.  My unscientific tests indicate the CWGet
out
> performs Hamscope and MixW in weak CW conditions,  but no software copies
> weak signal CW very well. .   Hamscope nicely displays both the
transmitted
> CW speed as well as the receive speed.   I have sometimes found that CW
> copying software has difficulty with high speed CW but Hamscope copied
> KM5HT's 40 WPM code without problems.  Copying CW was as simple as
clicking
> on the vertical trail in the waterfall or on the spectrum display.   The
> word length , dash length and noise threshold can all be easily  changed
in
> Hamscope's set-up area.  I did note that there is a noticeable delay from
> when your brain hears  a CW character to when it actually is printed on
the
> screen.  At average speed CW, the printed text is usually a character
behind
> what has actually been sent.  While this may seem understandable in that
the
> computer has to process the received signal, it appears more noticeable
on
> Hamscope that other CW packages.
>
> MFSK16:  I really like Hamscope's MFSK.  I have been a STREAM users since
> MFSK's birth but have found the horizontal waterfall in Stream difficult
to
> get comfortable with.  It is no doubt psychological, but I found that
> Hamscope's vertical waterfall for MFSK very easy to handle.  The AFC does
a
> good job of locking on to a MFSK16 signal , although it does so rather
> slowly...you can see it edging up the band like  someone doing the
> breaststroke.   Missing are the Clock Alignment , Bit Shape, and Phase
Scope
> display that Stream provides .  I was unable to determine any performance
> difference with Hamscope of Stream, both had the same  copying abilities
,
> but Hamscope's waterfall had me tuning them in quicker.
>
> PSK31:  AE4JY's core is used for PSK31 just like it appears to be in
every
> other PSk31 program these days.  Hence the basic PSK31 performance should
be
> the same. The AFC was again a little jerky but it did its job well by
> locking on to PSK31 signals that were nearby.  If between two signals,
one
> strong and one weak, the AFC sought out the stronger one each time. 
There
> is no tuning or phase scope like the ones you can find in Zakanaka or
> PSK31SBW, I still find such tuning aides useful.   As far as I can
determine
> there is no ability to copy more that one PSk31 signal simultaneously,
> Digipan, WinWarbler, Zakanaka and other all have multi-receive
capability.
> Hamscope also lacks some of the bells and whistles that Digipan has
(search
> feature) and also lacks some of the fancy tricks that Zakanaka's macros
can
> perform (rig QSY, passband centering. logging inserts and more).  Overall
it
> performed well.
>
> RTTY:  This the mode that I had the most difficulty with.  The first
thing I
> noticed was that it appears to default to a setting that requires RTTY to
be
> tuned in USB if you want to be able to copy signals.  .  Hamscope
displayed
> the RTTY signal very nicely on the spectral or waterfall displays and the
> AFC appears to track nicely,  but I had problems copying even quite
strong
> signals. There is no tuning scope like that in MMTTY or Zakanaka.  One S3
> signal on 10 meters would not display any intelligible signals at all but
a
> quick flip to Zakanaka with MMTTY's RTTY engine and I was copying the
same
> signal,an HB9 station,  CQing with 100% copy.  Hamscope provides the RTTY
> user with a couple of FEC possibilities but I did not attempt to use
these
> features.  It certainly does not have the advanced filtering capabilities
> that MMTTY and Zakanaka provides the RTTY users.  I don't anticipate any
> RITTY users giving up that DOS based program for this either.  Perhaps I
> chose a bad day, the HF bands were down quite a bit but Hamscope's weak
> signal RTTY was way below the competition.
>
> Logging:  Hamscope has an ability to interface with YPLOG.  This feature
was
> not tested.
>
> Overall:
> A VERY NICE program.  If RTTY performs for you better than it did for me,
> then I would say it is an EXCELLENT program.  The $50.00 to register the
> program (and unlock some of the PTT and Radio PTT features) may seem a
> little steep to those used to the free versions of Digipan, WinPsk
> WinWarbler, Zakanaka, Stream , Logger, and MMTTY.  However if you want
them
> all in one package, the $50.00 may be worth it. Hamscope performs as well
as
> TrueTTY and MixW which also cost money but Hamscope certainly looks
better
> than those two programs.  MixW 2.0 is in beta testing and it may well be
> that MixW will have enough improvements to cause the ham to have much
> difficulty in deciding which program to get.
>
> Please fee free to comment on this article.
> 73 de Andy KB2EOQ
> www.kb2eoq.com
> obriena@&netsync.net
>
> Note:  KB2EOQ is on the Zakanaka and MMTTY help writing teams, some
> conflicts of interest are acknowledged.
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