Digital Modes Meanderings
Digital Mode Operations
After the initial break-in period, I settled in to the normal PSK31 routine that most new digital operators seem to fall into after a few weeks of operating the soundcard modes. Amazed and excited barely describe the fun I was having. This was a whole new world of adventure for me in ham radio. To say that the digital modes breathed new life into my HF ham radio experience is a whopping understatement. I was on the air just about every night calling CQ, answering CQs and meeting a whole bunch of really nice people eager to help me and other digital newbies. Since getting on the digital modes I can honestly say that I have had more and better quality QSOs (not just contacts) than I ever did on SSB and CW. That includes DX QSOs too. It was rare to carry on a long DX QSO on SSB. On the digital modes it is a lot more common.
My first software package, DigiPan, was all PSK modes (PSK31, PSK63, etc.) and it was a good starting point for me. This software introduced me to the waterfall concept of looking for and selecting potential QSOs. I always wanted a panadapter (a.k.a. band scope) for my radio and with this software I got a miniature one because the “digital band” is really just the width of the SSB filter (approximately 3 kHz). I also got my feet wet with learning to set software operating parameters for the modes and the soundcard interface. For a person who was not necessarily the most computer savvy individual, that was a little tricky at first. But the wonderful thing we call the World Wide Web was a good information source (as it still is, obviously).
My first software package, DigiPan, was all PSK modes (PSK31, PSK63, etc.) and it was a good starting point for me. This software introduced me to the waterfall concept of looking for and selecting potential QSOs. I always wanted a panadapter (a.k.a. band scope) for my radio and with this software I got a miniature one because the “digital band” is really just the width of the SSB filter (approximately 3 kHz). I also got my feet wet with learning to set software operating parameters for the modes and the soundcard interface. For a person who was not necessarily the most computer savvy individual, that was a little tricky at first. But the wonderful thing we call the World Wide Web was a good information source (as it still is, obviously).
After several dozen contacts I became aware of other software programs that were available. I eventually upgraded to MixW software for my continuously evolving digital mode experience. MixW was at the time I think the only soundcard mode software that cost money to use. All the other software programs that I can think of were free for the downloading. So why did I choose to pay $50 for my software rather than get one for free? Well first of all, I did get DigiPan for free, and MixW is produced by the same folks who conceived of DigiPan. So there was a degree of familiarity in the two software programs in respect to set-up and operation. In addition, at the time (2004) MixW was considered by a lot of digital operators as the best all-around digital mode soundcard software available. MixW was very popular and had a good following. It seemed that just about everyone was running MixW. It had a very good user interface, offered lots of different digital modes, and was well supported. Unfortunately, I can’t say that all these are still true today in 2014. The software is still good but things have changed and the original support for MixW is lacking in my opinion. Many of the software programs that were available back then have evolved and gotten quite good in their operation and in the features offered. Most are still free! Remember, “Free is good”.
I now knew that I was hooked on digital soundcard modes and wanted to do more, much more. A key reason in my decision to upgrade my software was that MixW offered different digital modes. There were lots of them too, some in multiple flavors! MixW supported over a dozen digital soundcard modes including PSK, QPSK, MFSK, MT63, Amtor, Throb, and Hellschreiber. Fax (facsimile), SSTV (slow scan television), RTTY (radio teletype), and even CW (continuous wave, but no one calls it that, it is Morse code) were available even though these were not new modes for Amateur radio. But the computer soundcard revolution made these modes extremely easy to get on and explore which was not always the case in the past. Later, a program extension to MixW added Olivia and Contestia to the mode selection options. Wow! Now that is a bewildering amount of choices for a still fairly recent newcomer to the digital modes. But in spite of the dizzying multitude of choices, I was in digital mode heaven. I still considered PSK31 as my main digital operations mode but that was soon to change as I methodically explored each mode that MixW offered.
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