What your thoughts on activations using rtty and other digimodes on summits? I did two activations, one Saturday and one Sunday both with rtty. Saturday, KC3RT came back to me after a couple calls on 40m rtty but I couldn’t play more (stupid Windows updates drained my battery). I was pretty thrilled that the proof of concept worked so I went ahead and tried another rtty SOTA Sunday. After 8 minutes calling on 40m rtty and 15 minutes on 20m rtty I switched to 20m SSB and within 3 minutes had 5 contacts. Is it me, or do chasers gravitate toward CW/SSB? I feel that the rarer modes would draw more people. What are your guys’ thoughts?
I did a PSK activation a long time a go just so I could say I’d done it. Digimodes don’t float my boat from a summit but that’s me. I’d rather use voice or Morse. Quite a few people have been successfull with PSK from a summit. Tom M1EYP has used it quite a bit as there are PSK applications for modern smartphones and tablets that save you from having to lug a laptop up a summit. I think the important thing is to make sure chaser know you will be using something different.
BPSK31/BPSK63 is way more useful for QRP than RTTY. About 90% of all contacts on PSK are done with <50W, while working whole world on daily basis. The RTTY usually requires more power to be copied well on the other end.
I tried activating a summit using BPSK31 in the past and I was very disapointed. Usually on SSB, most of the QSOs are with chasers interested in SOTA programme, while on BPSK31 I made just regular QSOs mostly with people having no clue about SOTA at all.
I can suggest using BPSK63, as people familiar with this mode understand that not everybody has time to exchange information about color of their PC and Windows version. Very long and nonsensical macros are very common on BPSK31 - this is usually the reason while the PSK is not very well accepted among the “serious hams”.
I guess the interest for digital modes on summits will depend a lot on where you live…
I notice I have some kind of innate talent to attract rain when I start activating a summit (without performing any kind of special dance), and I would hesitate to take even more equipment with me that needs protection against water.
Special attention must also be paid to the readability of the screen in full light or in the sun. At the very best, full screen back-light intensity will allow to read, but will drain the batteries very quickly.
Digital is an excellent QRP mode and makes for an interesitng alternative and allows you to explore some set up options, what you put in the pack etc. I have done a few here in VK, I’d like to do more. Have also managed a S2S which was cool. I find that most HAMS steer away from digi modes which is a shame.
Happy to try and work out a time for a DX S2S on digi if you want. I use FLDigi so can do most modes.
Over the years quite a few have tried digimodes for activations. They have generally only done it a few times though, having found it to be be far less amenable to portable operating than the standard phone/cw.
Even the special portable digimode terminals have never really caught on: http://www.nue-psk.com/
It ought to be easier now with so many people with KX3s that do digital but there are few signs of much of an upsurge. Perhaps it is because digital modes rather divorce the portable operator from the human element of the contact? It’s mostly macros I’m guessing and which activator sitting on a hilltop really wants to know that you are using a 2.3GHz Pentium 5 tower system etc?
Last year I created a RTTY Robot (software) that would allow my home station to chase me while I was activating with the KX3. Testing was successful at home, but it failed to work when I tested it from a nearby summit. Had the QSO succeeded, it would have spotted me to SOTAWatch for other RTTY chasers. Longer term I thought that it might allow my station to auto-chase other activators using digital modes.
I don’t know why it didn’t work during the field test, although I suspect that my tuning algorithm was not precise enough to work with weaker signals. Unfortunately, the day I chose for field testing was the day that the KH6 association went live. My primary mission was to be the first person outside of Hawaii to work KH6 S2S (succeeded, on both CW and SSB), but I got to the summit a little late and didn’t have enough time to do further tests.
I meant to get back to the project later, but got busy with other things and still haven’t done so. Given how little SOTA activity there is on the digital modes, it may not be worth pursuing further.
73,
Eric KU6J
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Free SOTA Spot Monitor Software + RBNGate FAQ: http://www.ku6j.com
I hope you ran this idea by the Chasers’ Union beforehand. We don’t want sota to be the subject of industrial action. Then again, as it didn’t work; perhaps the CU had it sabotaged?
LOL, I hadn’t thought of that Richard, but you’re right! There would be a big uptick in chaser unemployment if robots were widely adopted. After all, you don’t have to pay robots a salary, give them health benefits or even provide them a clean water closet to use. They’ll work long hours (24/7/365), never go on strike, it would be an activator’s utopia at the expense of chasers worldwide.
Ah yes, now it all makes sense. A crafty member of the Chasers’ Union MUST have hacked into my robot’s brain and sabotaged the field test. Those sneaky buggers…
73,
Eric KU6J
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Free SOTA Spot Monitor Software + RBNGate FAQ: http://www.ku6j.com
