Because the different sub-modes have different characteristics in terms of throughput and QRM/QRN/QSB resistance. Poor conditions will dictate using slower modes; while good conditions will allow faster modes. Furthermore, the signal bandwidth is variable in order to choose how many simultaneous QSOs can occur within the same window.
Would it be possible to include some sort of an auto-decode feature in the software that would detect which mode is being received sure would help. There is a similar feature in MMSSTV which tells you which SSTV mode is being received .
I think that the RSID function in, for example the fldigi software, does give submode information. I'd have to check to be sure.
I know you mean well, but Olivia is a dead issue. A dead mode. Nobody is on it and nobody is gonna be on it. For those wanting a nice ragchew, or at least and exchange of rig/wx/ant, there is PSK31 which has quite a lot of activity even during these days of the FT8 craze.
No advantages? Here is just one summary of a detailed test using ionospheric simulation software: http://www.w1hkj.com/FldigiHelp-3.21/Modes/Compare.htm. You can find others online. I personally have had many near-solid copy QSOs using Olivia (and other MFSK-based modes), when CW was very difficult and PSK31 was unusable. PSK31 is great when signals are weak but not badly distorted. The trouble is, HF is a very "dirty" environment, particularly the lower bands that are the only ones open most of the time these days. Modes like Olivia were developed to cope with that "dirtiness"--distortions in the time, frequency and phase domains. The popularity of a mode among hams often has nothing to do with its quality or robustness. I think ease of use is the biggest factor, along with being good enough for most people and appearing when a critical mass of people perceive a need. PSK31 caught on because it was not much more difficult than RTTY, worked much better with weaker signals, and gave hams with modest stations a way to work DX without knowing CW. I use CW, too, but I often needed something better and "smarter" than PSK31. I'm a "100 watts and a wire" ham living in the high-latitude Pacific Northwest. Here, the ionosphere often turns into quivering polar-path jelly. A few years back, I could often find people to chat with on Olivia and the other exotic digital modes. Now, not so much. I think FT8 is a great technical accomplishment. But it's basically a QSL-gathering, "The World as a Dart Board" mode.. We now have several modes that work well for conversational communication over not-so-great HF conditions. But many hams won't try these modes because they're not as easy to use as PSK31. Or because they like radios and computers, but they don't like communicating with people. FT8 is perfect for folks like that. Me, I like to have real conversations with people far away--it's one of the main reasons why I became a ham. It's frustrating that we've developed wonderful modes for such conversations (maybe too many), but hardly anyone uses them.
The fact that Olivia has NOT 'caught on' is indicative of its failure to manifest practical advantages. This is hardly a 'new' mode, despite the highly overhyped attempt to 'sell' it on the coattails of FT8. You already pointed out the problem-- we have SEVERAL options. Olivia is the one which is least used. Why? because given those SEVERAL OPTIONS, it has no clear advantage. Finally its bogus to project the notion of digital HF 'conversation' as anything more or less than a texting or tweeting mode. The person is not part of the process. As for 'QSL gathering'-- your trivialization of DXing and hunting/contesting is at odds with the reality that these are overwhelmingly the dominant activities at HF. I love that the "World is my dartboard". And well over a million other hams feel the same way. 73 Chip W1YW
Gee, I dunno. HF Digital Voice has been around for years. https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct...0056x003.pdf&usg=AOvVaw3Mu7nx1U6EwzlkThwLWK7l
FT8 is a wonderful mode,however, using that mode for a couple hours and I switch to olivia,psk,etc. The thing I like about FT8 is that it is quick,fast and when both computers lock into each other, you really don't have to do a thing! But it's nice to have conversation. With the crowd going to FT8, it makes the rest of the band/s less crowded. I really love FT8 and the other modes on HRD,MULITPSK,WSJT-X,MIXW, FILDGI and good ole CW! de KA1BSZ/M
I'm not telling anyone what to do, nor what is valid and what is bogus. We each have our own personalities and interests that determine what we like. The bands are big enough for all of us (except, perhaps, on major contest weekends) . As I mentioned earlier, the acceptance of a mode by a majority of hams these days has less to do with technical suitability and more with ease of use and it being introduced at the right time. RTTY is a terrible mode for ham radio--wasteful of space, often requiring high power, and not very good in less than optimum conditions. But surplus equipment became available after WWII, a tradition was established, and there we were. PSK31 is a great improvement over RTTY. It does well even when signals are weak, as long as they are mostly stable. But it fails miserably when confronted with polar flutter, selective fading, doppler shift and such. Many people grew to love PSK31 when 20m and higher were open much of the time. Including me. But it's not so great these days on the low bands. I do consider keyboard chat a form of conversation, no less so than CW (which I do operate some of the time). And yes, I do prefer genuine exchanges with someone in another country to "599 73" QSOs. I've been a ham for 48 years, and I've done my share of both. In the last 30 years or so, many of my conversational contacts have been on digital modes, starting with AMTOR and Pactor, and progressing to PSK31, Olivia, Contestia, MFSK16 and DominoEX. I don't care if a mode is one month old or years old. I'm interested in what works. I am actually not so much an advocate for Olivia specifically. I am an advocate for the advanced MFSK-based modes, of which Olivia seems to be the most-used. Actually, several other variants are faster and better for specific conditions. DominoEX is great for the low band conditions we encounter these days. I've been very pleased with the performance of both DominoEx and MFSK16 for DX contacts. Anyone who is interested in the specifics of the MFSK-based modes, including Olivia, might benefit from Murray Greenman's (ZL1BPU) site, particularly this page: http://www.qsl.net/zl1bpu/MFSK/Index.htm Main page: http://www.qsl.net/zl1bpu/ At 20:00 into this audio podcast, Murray describes why and how he developed MFSK. At 25:50 he talks about why you'll be more successful if you match your mode to the operating conditions. http://hwcdn.libsyn.com/p/f/9/f/f9f...12271374&hwt=bba38f87e125ddb4e1d06a72c5fac2bf The above audio direct link comes from a QSO Today podcast, which has more links on the subject: https://www.qsotoday.com/podcasts/zl1bpu 73, --Peter, KD7MW
Some updated details: Basics of the Olivia MFSK Digital Mode Olivia MFSK is an amateur radioteletype protocol designed to work in difficult (low signal-to-noise ratio plus multipath propagation conditions on shortwave bands. The typical Olivia signal is decoded when the amplitude of the noise is over ten times that of the digital signal! It is commonly used by amateur radio operators to reliably transmit ASCII characters over noisy channels using the high frequency (3-30 MHz, HF; shortwave) spectrum. Olivia modes are commonly referred to as Olivia X/Y (or, alternatively, Olivia Y / X ), where X refers to the number of different audio tones transmitted and Y refers to the bandwidth in hertz over which these signals are spread. Examples of common Olivia modes are 8/150, 16/500, and 32/1000. OLIVIA History The protocol was developed at the end of 2003 by Pawel Jalocha. The first on-the-air tests were performed by two radio amateurs, Fred OH/DK4ZC and Les VK2DSG on the Europe-Australia path in the 20-meter amateur band. The tests proved that the protocol works well and can allow regular intercontinental radio contacts with as little as one-watt RF power. Since 2005 Olivia has become a standard for digital data transfer under white noise, fading and multipath, flutter (polar path) and auroral conditions. Current Olivia Community Please join our Olivia-mode email group: https://Groups.Io/g/Olivia Also, be aware that we have a Facebook group dedicated to instant communication for spotting, scheduling, and so on, at https://www.facebook.com/groups/olivia.hf/ -- please join this group, if you are on Facebook. Voluntary Olivia Channelization Since Olivia signals can be decoded even when received signals are extremely weak, (signal to noise ratio of -14db), signals strong enough to be decoded are sometimes below the noise floor and therefore impossible to search for manually. As a result, amateur radio operators have voluntarily decided upon channelization for this mode. This channelization allows even imperceptibly weak signals to be properly tuned for reception and decoding. By common convention amateur stations initiate contacts utilizing 8/250, 16/500, or 32/1000 configuration of the Olivia mode and then switch to other configurations to continue the conversation. The following table lists the common center frequencies used in the amateur radio bands. Olivia (CENTER) Frequencies (kHz) for Calling, Initiating QSOs It is often best to get on standard calling frequencies with this mode because you can miss a lot of weak signals if you don't. However, with Olivia activity on the rise AND all the other modes vying for space, a good deal of the time you can operate wherever you can find a clear spot--as close as you can to a standard calling frequency. Note: some websites publish frequencies in this band, that are right on top of weak-signalJT65 and JT9 segments. DO NOT QRM weak-signal QSOs! We (active Olivia community members) suggest 8/250 as the starting settings when calling CQ on the USB frequencies designated as “Calling Frequencies.” A Calling Frequency is a center frequency on which you initially call, “CQ…” and then, with the agreement with the answering operator, move to a new nearby frequency, changing the number of tones and bandwidth at your discretion. Even though 8/250 is slow, the CQ call is short. But, it is narrow, to allow room for other QSOs nearby. CENTER FREQUENCIES: 1.8269, 3.5729, 7.0729, 10.1429, 14.0729, 18.1029, 21.0729, 24.9229, 28.1229, and so on. See the pattern? (Why the …9 frequency? Experts say that ending in a non-zero, odd number is easier to remember!) For those new to waterfalls: the CENTER frequency is the CENTER of the cursor shown by common software. The cursor is what you use to set the transceiver’s frequency on the waterfall. If your software’s waterfall shows the frequency, then you simply place the cursor so that its center is right on the center frequency listed, above. If your software is set to show OFFSET, then you might, for example, set your radio’s dial frequency to 14.0714, and place the center of your waterfall cursor to 1500 (1500 Hz). That would translate to the 14.0729 CENTER frequency. Also: Do not switch to other modes without calling CQ for at least a five-minute window. It is horrid when people call CQ and change settings, modes, bandwidths, tones, every time they call CQ! TURN ON RSID (TXID and RXID in FLdigi)! Common Windows of Olivia Operation on HF (this is still a work-in-progress; your input is welcome) + 160m: 1835 kHz - 1837.9 kHz + 80m: 3571 kHz - 3573.9 kHz + 40m: 7071 kHz - 7073.9 kHz (500, 250, or 125 Hz configurations mostly) + 30m: 10141 kHz - 10144 kHz (500, 250, or 125 Hz configurations mostly) + 20m: 14071 kHz - 14073.9 kHz (500, 250, or 125 Hz configurations mostly) 14104.5 kHz – 141079 kHz (1000 or 2000 Hz wide configurations mostly) + 17m: 18102.65 kHz + 15, 12, 10 and 6m: Usually 500 Hz above PSK activity – 21071.4 kHz, 24921.4 kHz, 28121.4 kHz + 50.291 MHz ??? Note: First, make sure that your signal does not cross into other sub-bands where weak-signal modes are active. For instance, do not have any part of your signal at 14073.5 kHz or higher, as this is the sub-band for FT8, JT65A, JT9. DO NOT QRM WEAK-SIGNAL MODES such as WSPR, JT65A, and JT9! BE AWARE OF THE BAND PLANS OF THOSE MODES!! Operating OLIVIA 1. Please make sure you are using the RSID (Reed Solomon Identification - RSID or TXID, RXID) option in your software. RSID transmits a short burst at the start of your transmission which identifies the mode you are using. When it does that, those amateur radio operators also using RSID while listening will be alerted by their software that you are transmitting in the specific mode (Olivia, hopefully), the settings (like 8/250), and where on the waterfall your transmission is located. This might be a popup window and/or text on the receive text panel. When the operator clicks on that, the software moves the waterfall cursor right on top of the signal and changes the mode in the software. This will help you make more contacts! + NOTE: MixW doesn't have RSID features. Request it! + 2nd Note: A problem exists in the current paid version of HRD's DM780: the DM780 RSID popup box to click does not work. HRD support is aware of the problem. You can still use the textual version that you can select in the settings so that it appears in the receive text areas. If you click the RSID link that comes across the text area, DM780 will tune to the reported signal, and change to the correct settings. 2. Olivia is NOT a weak-signal mode. There are no points won by barely making a contact. In USA FCC regulations, you use the power necessary to make the QSO. Typically, with poor propagation, 100w is the minimum to establish a reliable circuit. You just cannot go beyond your rig's duty cycle. You also must be sure that you do not overdrive the audio chain into your radio. Also, be sure that you do not have RF coming back into your audio chain. Yes, 100 watts is acceptable. Don't let anyone convince you otherwise. 3. Some older information that might be helpful is at this website: http://www.oliviamode.com/ -- this has older information (so do not rely on the frequencies listed!), but most of it is STILL perfectly pertinent to the current operation. Just be aware of frequencies, and other software choices. GET ON THE AIR AND STAY AROUND FOR A WHILE, TRYING. THE RESULTING RAGCHEW COULD VERY WELL BE WORTH THE WAIT! 73 de NW7US and the Olivia Community
ughh, these messages are more like the 80m AM filibusters. I am sure that there is excellent content, but as my high school Freshman year English teacher said, "wordy".
Next time just post TL;DR that means "too long; didn't read" It's a really hip trendy cool acronym, all the modern TXTers are using it. By using it yourself you can signal that you too are hip, modern, trendy, and "with it". All that, without going on and on with a lot of words unnecessarily. Yeah tldr, TTYL, ttfn, anstaafl, ymmv, ianal.
