Hey Steve,

Congratulations on working 1A0C.

Thanks for your suggestions. I wil give the SQ button a try. I must have
missed in amongst all the other cryptically labeled buttons, such as "1x2".
I was stumped by that one for a bit. "Gee, they have a filter which lets you
decode only RTTY sent by extra class hams. How innovative" Of course, it's
just a label, and the macro can be programmed to send whatever you like.

I already use the LSB Data mode, with the shift set to 2210 Hz, and the
width set to 200 Hz. That certainly makes fine tuining easier.

Thanks for the input level adjustment tip. This more or less confirms how I
thought things should be set.

These digital modes are fun! Sure, texting etc. is commonplace now, but I
still find it intriguing to be ale to have keyboard to keyboard
conversations over radio.

--Doug, AC7T
 From: For blind ham radio operators [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
On Behalf Of Steve Forst
Sent: Sunday, July 08, 2012 6:25 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: RTTY for Doug

Hi Doug,

Sorry I lost your e-mail as soon as I read it, but I think I remember 
your questions.  Glad you are making some progress.   I did work the 
1A0C operation last week on 20 meter RTTY for a new country on that mode.

You will never get rid of 100 percent of the bad characters, since there is
no error correction in RTTY, but you  can no doubt improve things. 
There is a squelch button on the control panel of MMTTY.   Be sure 
"control panel" is checked in the drop down menu.   I've never adjusted 
this, but I think you would need the Jaws cursor or whatever the WE method
is.

There is a "SQ" option under the AFC tab in  the "setup mmtty" dropdown 
menu.   Here is a line from the help file:
**
SQ stands for squelch. The squelch controls the value that the AFC will
accept to try to lock in. The default value is 32.

AFC SQ is not the same as the squelch on the control panel. The control
panel squelch display controls how strong a signal must be to print. The AFC
SQ setting controls how weak a signal the AFC will use to tune in.
**
Are you running the 590 in SSB data mode?   I think you can tighten the 
filters down a bit more this way, rather then just running in regular LSB
mode.

I operate in FSK mode which allows  me to get the filter down for good copy.
You may want to try copying a station in FSK and see if you like it better.

Since I use FSK, I don't use the sound card for transmit, but here is what I
remember hearing from others to prevent overdrive in AFSK:
Set power output to desired level and make your power adjustment via the
sound card's output level settings. Do this in the sound card itself, 
not in the radio's menu, which only gives 8 or 9 level settings.   Bring 
the sound card level up to your desired output and then back it off a bit.
This should prevent overdrive.

73, have fun, Steve KW3A