Twin Peaks

I was enjoying the twin peaks this weekend. No, not some late season skiing. No, I’m not talking about that 1990 TV mini-series….which I really liked BTW. I tend to take to television shows that are a little, well, let’s say off-beat. I also enjoyed Picket Fences and the series Northern Exposure….but I digress. The twin peaks I'm referring to is the image you see on RTTY software, the result of RF energy that manifests itself into Radio Teletype. This weekend the Volta contest took place and RTTY sub-bands, at least on 20 and 40 where I hung out, were chattering with activity.
This contest has been around 44 years and is named in honour of Alessandro Volta, an Italian physicist who died back in 1827 but is credited with developing the first electric cell in 1800.

There are a number of RTTY contests throughout the year, and I try to dabble in as many as possible. I’m still a neophyte in this mode, having sent my first ‘ritty’ signal maybe five years ago. As with many of the digital modes tough, I find the operating quite pleasurable, primarily because these modes are well suited to modest stations with lower power. I’m able to make decent contacts, across North America or across the oceans without too much trouble. Running between 60 and 80 watts into my simple windom, I was able to work some decent Dog-Xray from the Hawaiian Islands (KH6GMP) to Poland (SP3GHX), the latter on 40 meters, where I find it difficult to make a DX-haul on phone. I even managed a contact with a station in Sardinia, which according to my logging software is a separate DXCC entity from Italy, so I also got to chalk up a new country (better dust off the QSL cards!).

I always get excited about working KH6-land, regardless of mode. I think it’s the mental image I have of the ham there operating from a little grass shack while being served an exotic drink in a carved-out coconut by a lovely Polynesian woman doing the Hula while Don Ho plays the ukulele. (Sorry about the stereotype….I’m sure there are some hams in far off lands who have a mental picture of the VE operator they’re working squatting in an igloo chewing on raw seal meat).

Back to the Volta contest….truthfully, I didn’t work that many stations, due to the usual time constraints of the weekend, but the short time spent was well worth the effort.

Prior to the personal computer becoming a common accessory in the ham shack, operating RTTY involved some pretty heavy-duty hardware that, when operating, could shake your foundation loose or at least send the dog into a barking frenzy. Of course, modern software applications have made this wonderful mode accessible to anyone who can jam an interface between their rig and USB port (or sound card). If you want more info about RTTY, check out this great primer by AA5AU.

I also love operating PSK31, which was the first digital mode I dabbled in a few years back. The incredibly efficient use of spectrum and, again, relatively low power you’re able to use make it the perfect match for the average ham who is not a ‘big gun’. So if you’re an amateur radio operator whose power is the stock “full half-pint” (100 watts) with a basic antenna and are frustrated by trying to be heard on SSB, give the digital modes a shot. Most of the basic software is available as free downloads. And……let’s not forget that original digital mode, CW. Still one of the best ways to punch through a signal with low, or even very little power. But, if your CW skills are just not there, no fears….there’s software for that too! (Insert shriek of horror from the CW purists). I do my best to manually transmit CW with my paddles, but I do admit, I’m usually running the receive software as insurance for times when the QRM interferes with my

brain trying to concentrate on that one signal, especially in contest situations.

Hey, I just received two packs of QSL cards via the bureau this past week. Perhaps we’ll chat about that next time.

‘til then 73 & keep the RF pumping.

Signals from Hell

The great thing about amateur radio is it’s almost impossible to get bored. Tired of SSB?...brush off (or brush up on) your CW skills. CW not your scene? No probs, there’s VHF/UHF, repeaters, IRLP, EchoLink and numerous HF digital modes to try. A couple of years ago, a friend lent me his RigBlaster to try out. I was soon hooked on PSK31 and was having a lot of fun using the keyboard to communicate instead of the mic or keyer. This led to some dabbling in that older, but still common digital mode, Radio TeleType or RTTY. I remember years ago, before computers were as common in the shack as solder splatter on the floor, a ham friend who was into RTTY had a room full of vintage Teletype equipment salvaged from some telecommunications centre somewhere. Back then the only way to copy the strange sounding signals was to bring these great beasts to life. The things clattered, the house shook, the dog was barking, the paper spewed! As fascinating as it was, at the time I couldn’t see myself trying something like that! Much easier to key the mic and say “CQ”! Well, now the computer and greatly improved and simplified interfaces like the RigBlaster have made RTTY and many other digi modes much more accessible. I spent part of this weekend making contacts on the BARTG (British Amateur Radio Teledata Group) RTTY contest. I made just 39 contacts, but I can just imagine how much paper would have been snaking across the floor had this been the “olden days” of 20 years ago!

I’d heard tell of this other mode with the sinister name “Hell”. I thought working “hell” was when you were trying to crack a DX pile-up with a noise level of S9 and heavy QRM! Well, this “Hell” is actually short for “Hellschreiber”, and it’s anything but new. It was first developed in the late 1920’s by its namesake Rudolf Hell (wonder what his priest though of the family name?!), and is similar to facsimile. During World War II, the Germans often used Hellschreiber in conjunction with the Enigma machine and the equipment used to send and receive the mode looked similar to that of the Enigma. Move ahead to today and modern computer-to-radio interfaces and sound card technology allow this to be replicated on your monitor. Unlike many of the digital modes, that use variations of phase-shift keying, “Hell” uses on-off keying to “paint” a picture of letters, word and symbols. In that way it’s very similar to Fax and even CW. It may be based on old technology, but it’s pretty cool to watch!

I had considered playing around with this mode once I got around to learning a bit more. But, after a post on 73s.org by Jeff, KB3ELT mentioning he’d made his first Hellschreiber contact, and seeing there was a Hell contest underway this Saturday, my interest was piqued. I actually found that the CD that came with my recently acquired RigBlaster Plug-n-Play contained the popular Hellschreiber software by IZ8BLY. I loaded it up and within a few minutes was watching words being “painted” on the signals. Unfortunately, I had to move on to some other activities and didn’t get a change to try a transmission before the contest ended. Efforts to find other Hell signals were unsuccessful, partially due to the heavy RTTY from the BARTG contest. Maybe next weekend I’ll have my first “Hell-ish” radio encounter!

There’s a good website by WB8NUT that explains the various digital modes used my amateurs complete with links to software downloads.

So, if you’re getting stuck in a rut with your operating practices, try something new!