PSK31 Rant

You people just love to whine about something don't you? Macros whats that I will type it all out to you. I dont have a problem with it. And you know what if you dont like it then don't answer my calls. What is your rush? Jesus christ. This has to be the most waste of space i have seen lately on here. Get a life you guys. If you dont have the time to listen to what a guy has in his shack then pull the plug. Sounds like its hello give me a qsl card goodbye. If you want fast contacts then get in a contest.

 

Rant is right!  I like to hear about the other Op's equiment and his interests. Only on rare occasions do I find people who run too long with their station information. I do not find this to be a great issue,listen to the blow hards in their ssb net's! I am also tired of the hit and run qso's. Dont want to communicate? Try contesting! At 50 wpm how long can most brag files take on PSK 31? 30-45 secs. Relax and enjoy the qso!

 

... K5DVW de N6SSQ ...
Although you didn't leave a name,I basically agree about the monster macros. A QSO is a conversation between two operators. I like you perfer the personal touch. I actually had a ham on RTTY tell me right out that he was not interested in what equipment I had, as long as it worked. That was in the late 80's and I have kept that as reminder that not everyone cares about equipment... just happy that it works and you can have a QSO.
Like you, I have had HUGE macro's dumped on me. I don't know why, but no one seems to ask the question, "Are you interested in my equipment list?" or words to that effect? I have never had a ham ask me that. I wish they would. I have asked "not to be sent the deadly brag file" and have never been rebuffed for it. Trouble there is, they dump it before asking for a RST or even get your name...
One thing that seems to slip peoples minds here, the typing speed argument/comments... PSK31 or any of the digital keyboard modes are not a speed race.. we used to call RTTY the "gentlemens mode" simply because no one was ever in a hurry, the RTTY just diddled while they thought or put their words to keyboard/screen.
My suggestion is, if you make contact, tell the other ham you are really not interested in his equipment but more what he does for a living, how long has he been a ham, are the rest of his family hams, does he trout fish with worms or flies? haw.. haw.. A QSO built around a list of equipment isn't much of a QSO..
For those who are not fast typers, who cares?? Has anyone ever bad-mouthed you for being toooooo slooow?
I don't think so..
Keep the peace.. keep the macro's to what you are using at that time and mode.. keep the speed of the computer a secret, I mean... who really cares about that?
73's troops Semper Fi
de Fergy N6SSQ

 

k6dvw, I appreciate your insight.  I'm just getting started, but your "rant" made me realize that in many ways, PSK31 is just like other modes: Nobody likes the guy who always times out the repeater!  My only macro will be the CQ, just as it is in my keyer.

I have enjoyed watching the QSOs go by, especially those of the foreign operators in other languages; this has been a real learning experience.  Their "brag files" seem to be a lot shorter than those of us Americans.  Hmmm... what does that tell you?  =:-O

Thanks for the nice reminder -- mark@km6xu.com

***** Mark Walsh ***** http://www.km6xu.com *****

 

Wow! I never thought my initial post would cause such a stir. You'd think I drug up the CW debate again!

Anyhow, thanks to all who have posted and given their comments.

It's funny how some people read a post and totally misinterpret the meaning. I'd just like to add that I never said macros were bad, I never said station information was bad, I never said slow typists were bad, all I was asking for was a little moderation in station brag files. Geesh!

I love ragchewing on PSK, and yes I am a very fast typist. So what! I've had countless QSOs on PSK without even exchanging one bit of station data. I'm sure most of you have. These were some of the best QSO's because I got to know who I was talking to on the other end, this is what hamming is all about. I have plenty of patience for this and will wait for a slow typist without any complaints, but if you send me a 5 minute canned macro brag file in answer to my CQ, I'm gone!

Happy PSKing

Darrin
K5DVW

 

Yes, 5 minutes is much too long! I dont mind a minute or so of station info and a little about the person on the other end. I have received some of these epic station macros and they are a pain!

 

Here's my take on two issues raised here:

1. Macros (especially the excessive length of some brag files); and . . .

2. TYPING IN UPPER CASE ON PSK

1. Re: macros, k5dvw reiterated that his chief complaint is with the excessive length of some brag files, especially when not requested. I agree.

But macros serve a very important function in psk. First, assuming you created the macro with the correct text, macros guard against typing errors when transmitting critical data like call, name and qth - especially when band conditions are poor. Remember - psk is not error correcting.

2. Re: UPPER CASE ON PSK, besides being considered poor etiquette by the Internet generation (sorry, RTTY om's . . .) there is a technical reason why one should limit upper case in psk. The software algorithm is designed to decode lower case letters better than upper case letters. The specifics of this were outlined in a well-written article in QST.

Many experienced psk ops know this, especially dx's, who will send most, if not all tx in lower case. For signals that are 85%-100% copy, psk works fine using a "normal" blend of typing with a combination of upper and lower case (proper names, cities, states, etc.).

73 es fb psk de Bruce, N7XB

 

How intertaining.... I agree that some of the BRAGS are a bit long but I see a lot of folks complaining about not being able to type....

First it was CW that they couldn't learn and now it is TYPING !!!

I guess we need to have a 5WPM typing requirement to get a license next !!

 

If K5DVW actually timed a brag file at 5 minutes, well, he's right. That IS excessive. How that could branch into tirades on 75 wpm typing and Mavis Bacon is beyond me --- maybe those guys didn't read the original post.

5 minutes is a LONG time! Doubt it? Stare at the clock for the next 5 minutes. It's an eternity.

Do you blissfully key down and monolog for 5 minutes on phone? Maybe on a 75M net, but otherwise, not likely.

Do you send 5 minutes of straight 30 wpm CW (remember, there's a guy here advocating 75 wpm keyboard!)? Not without carpal tunnel.

Do you do ANYTHING for 5 minutes on 10 meters? Hey! The band will have shifted by then!

The issue isn't how fast we do anything. It's whether or not we have anything interesting enough to fill up 5 straight minutes in brag file format. Hate to say it, but most people don't.

On PSK, name, qth, rst, basic station and antennas take about 45 seconds. To go 5 minutes I'd have to get into the QRP rig on my lawn mower that can still work Siam (even tho' the country hasn't existed for most of my lifetime).

You just can't argue this --- anything that's in a brag file should be relavant to EVERYONE you might contact. Your grandkids, your Buick, the new roof and the grumpy neighbor don't belong there.

Beyond that, we wing it!

And you all know what Dennis Miller says...

 

 Hello from down under boy the lad at begining started something. I  sure agree that it is irrelavant  to put in the computer details rig power and ant should be ok as I do myself, not a typist but have got better in last year that i have been on digi modes.... see you on 10/20/15  when going gets tough swap modes to qpsk or mfsk16 works great for me !! cheers lads see you in the soup   DE Pete

 

I just got into PSK31 last week and am having a ball.  My only other experience in digital modes of communication were with RTTY, Packet, and Amtor using an old AEA PK64 and a Commodore 64 computer.  I would say that PSK31 is so much better than the old modes.  I don't know why I didn't get into PSK31 earlier.  I am making contacts all over the world with just 10 to 50 watts into my Cushcraft MA5B mini-beam.  P.S. Does anyone want to buy my old AEA PK64 and Commodore computer...it is going cheap.

 

</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote (NW7U @ Mar. 02 2002,20:49)</td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">If K5DVW actually timed a brag file at 5 minutes, well, he's right.  That IS excessive.  How that could branch into tirades on 75 wpm typing and Mavis Bacon is beyond me --- maybe those guys didn't read the original post.[/QUOTE]<span id='postcolor'>
Maybe someone should take a beginning logic class. The subject was macros and the excessive use of them. The reason they are used excessivly by many is a lack of typing skills and sometimes a lack of fluency in the language being typed. I won't go into illiteracy so we can assume spelling and grammar are not the problem. If it is then go back to high school and learn to write before you learn to type.

On the internet people who use/abuse macros in chat rooms are called scollers. They are despised by most everyone as they just fill up the bandwidth with worthless gobblygook that nobody reads. In amateur radio the same thing happens and bandwidth is even more valuable. Why should we just look the other way when someone sends these one-way transmissions about what kind of computer they have, The OS release, the brand of the monitor and what position their computer chair is in relation to the magnetic north pole?

It's a shame that some just have a buch of macros that they use to keep the conversation going because they can't type faster than the Christopher Columbus method (find it- then land on it.)

I used the 75WPM example to illustrate the absurdity of CW die-hards that insist that no and slow coders are somehow sub-human illiterate lids that should be run off the amateur bands. In my experience these OF's are the ones who usually have the most resistance to learning how to type. Why should CW be given more importance than the ability to use other digital modes? If they have a CW test then they should have a typing test and a speaking test. It's just absurd.

CW has outlived its usefullness as a 'manditory' mode and skill for HF. If one must decide whether to learn CW or typing anyone who thinks that CW is more important really needs to have their priorities re-examined. One is a flaming hoop that is ruining a once-thriving hobby. The other is a real-world skill that every day becomes more important. 100 years from now keyboards will probably look the same as they do now. CW will be dead, buried and forgotten. 20 years may yield the same result.

Learn to type. Don't use macros as a crutch. Don't send one-way broadcasts about silly stuff that people are not even reading. If you do use macros- use them as they were meant to- short and sweet shortcuts for the little stuff that you don't want to have to type over each time you have a new contact.

 

Ya know, I don't know where you get your information.

But the OF CW ops you refer too, learned to copy on a mill
(special upper case typewriter).  The older guys manuals,
us younger guys IBM Selectrics with a special "mill"
ball.

When you sprout off about about stuff that you
don't know beans about, you reveal your ignorance.




73 de Ronnie

 

Well, my, my, then how come you said we OFs
can't type then, if you knew that we could.

You're not from around here, so that is probably why you can't undertand how we talk.

I have a hard time understandin' yankees at times, too.

73 de Ronnie

 

Hi, please how can I construct or buy the cable to psk31 for icom 746

carlosjpr1@hotmail.com