We will be using RTTY and PSK as conditions and activity allow, and certainly will be making efforts to give everyone who wants a QSO on these modes the chance to work us.

If you do not currently have equipment for these modes, do not worry! Following these guidelines will give you an excellent chance of working us.

For both modes, you will need some form of data terminal. Nowadays, this is almost always provided by a computer running one of the readily available software packages, which provide access to both modes above.

Excellent ones include MIX-W and the MMHAMSOFT suite which is freeware. For PSK and RTTY, almost any computer running a modern version of Windows will suffice.

After you have loaded the software, you will need to interface your computer to your rig. The MMHAMSOFT site gives details of this. In short, using the sound card input and output, you should:

a) Connect the AF line output from your rig (most transceivers have a low-level audio output at the rear, which is independent of the AF gain control) to the sound card input, using screened cable.

b) Connect the sound card output via a 40 dB attenuator to the Mic input of your rig, using screened cable. A simple attenuator is:

From sound card o/p 0----------/\/\/\/\/\/\/---o--------------> to Mic input
100k ohm |
|
1 k ohm |
To ground <--------------\/\/\/\/\/\/---o

Set your transceiver to “USB”. Now you should be able to receive PSK and RTTY!

Try listening to the frequencies for these modes – start with 20m and listen for RTTY around 14085. RTTY is a “jingling” sound, with a clear difference between the two tones. PSK will be found nearer 14070, and is almost a steady tone, with a slight “warble” on it.
 

Use the “Waterfall” display on your software to check the tuning of your receiver – most software allows you to point to the signal on the waterfall, and click the mouse to “tune” the sound card to that frequency. You should soon be receiving copy on both modes.

Then you can try transmitting – first turn the speech processor off! Then click the “TX” icon and away you go – but be careful – you must limit the power output of your transmitter to about 35% of the PEP power rating – so for a 100 w pep transmitter use no more than 35 watts RF out on either of these modes. You can adjust this using the Mic gain control.

A little practice will result in easy QSOs on these modes, but you need to get that practice in before trying to work 3B7C – as there is more to learn! 3B7C will be working split – this means that you will need to transmit above our frequency. For both PSK and RTTY 1-5 kHz is probably the best choice – listen on the “B” VFO to hear where everyone is calling, and use the split facility on your transceiver to call us. Alternatively, some software allows you to select a different transmit frequency simply by instructing the sound card to “split” but you may not want to bother with this approach.

 
Good luck !