New cell phone

Normally a new cell phone would not be something very interesting to write about. I hate getting a new cell phone because you have to learn everything over. This new cell phone is the first "smart" phone for me. It is an Android Samsung Rugby Pro. I am excited about this phone because of the PSK app. I will be looking into this further. I also can use this phone to have weather maps during Skywarn activations. I hope going modern here will work out.

NBEMS-FLmsg new CSV file transfer video

 Dave, KB3FXI has made a new video for the new CSV file transfer. This is a good video. The new CSV file transfer will be a great help for us in the future. Watch it.


http://youtu.be/dYXS4lOI81E

FLMSG training video

Here is a very good training video for FLmsg. This should clear up any problems with using it. The video is from Dave, KB3FXI and Harry, W3YJ. They did a very good job! Check out their site and this video.





www.panbems.org

See where your PSK signal is heard

Check this web sight out. It is a place you can see where your digital signal is heard. You must use the pattern "de callsign callsign" for the software to hear you. This is a must play with website, get your bragging rights using your 5 watts QRP station.


http://www.pskreporter.info/
http://pskreporter.info/pskmap.html

What your PSK31 signal should look like

Here is some information and some pictures of different quality PSK31 signals as they appear in your waterfall. You will not be able to see your trace, but you can ask the person you are talking to how yours looks. This should also help you to help others in how their traces look. It is important to have as clean of signal as you can. You must also be careful not to transmit computer sounds.



Look at the traces between the two red lines.



This first one is of a very good signal:

The second one is the typical signal you will see:

This is the one you do not want:

Here are some tips for a clean signal:



1. Tune the rig for normal output on CW.
2. Change to the appropriate sideband setting (USB for PSK31 is standard)
3. Turn off the speech processor and leave it off
4. Set the audio control of the rig as you would for normal SSB operation
5. Set the PSK software to Transmit, with no data being transmitted.
6. Adjust the audio output from the soundcard so that the RF power output from the rig is no more than 25% of the cw output. (e.g. 25 watts for a 100 watt rig) There should be no ALC indication at this power level.



Pictures from and more info:
 
 http://www.rsq-info.net/Station-Setup-Checklist.html

PSKMeter

This is an interesting little kit for PSK31 or PSK63, a PSKMeter. The kit is from KF6VSG and he states on his web site:

"Our solution has been to develop a microprocessor-based RF signal sampler that periodically checks your RF output, computes its IMD locally, and automatically sets the sound card's audio level to provide the highest RF output with minimum distortion."

I may have to purchase this kit and try it out. It looks simple to build and if it preforms as stated would be a very good tool for PSK31. It runs on Windows 95 and newer.

Check it out at:

 http://www.ssiserver.com/info/pskmeter/

Airlink Express for PSK31

I recently ran across another PSK31 software package. I have always preferred Digipan, and Airlink Express resembles Digipan. It sets up easy and works close enough like digipan that I had a very small learning curve to use it. This software is compatible with Microsoft Windows XP, Microsoft Windows Vista, and Microsoft Windows 7. It offers PSK, MFSK and RTTY digital modes with logging and macro capabilities. This software is from Alex Krist, KR1ST and he did good with this one. Download the software and make some digital contacts tonight!

These are just some of the features available in Airlink Express:

■Automatic Multi Channel Display

■Support for Multiple Soundcards

■PSK31, PSK63, PSK125, PSK250, MFSK and RTTY

■Radio Control (CAT)

■Center Bandpass Tuning

■True FSK Keying

■Macros

■Bandpass Filters

■Logging with ADIF Import and Export

■Replay Last 60, 30, or 15 Seconds
 
Here is a screen shot
 

 
http://www.airlinkexpress.org/index.html