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fldigi and flrig and the filters of K3 and KX3

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jsdroyster

fldigi and flrig and the filters of K3 and KX3

Hello to all and THANKS in advance for enlightening me on fldigi and flrig used with KX3 and K3.
We havwe been doing fine with fldigi alone (no flrig) and PSK on KX3 and K3.
Now Larry (my husband K4MWE) wants to branch out to RTTY and to try CW via fldigi.
(Yes, we want to learn to hear CW but Larry's hand is not going to be able to transmit with the key he bought years ago.)

So here is the question:
In PSK I grasp that the bandwidth on the KX3 or K3 is set wide to establish the waterfall.
For RTTY I understand that the radio has the special dual PB filter, BUT do I use it OR do I still set the wide filter for the waterfall?
(I tried using the RTTY filter of the radio and the waterfall was 2 narrow blue tracks.)

If RTTY usually is at 14080 and above then do I want the waterfall to start lower than that?

Bumbling along on the digital learning curve...
73,
Julie KT4JR

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Nate Bargmann

Re: fldigi and flrig and the filters of K3 and KX3

* On 2014 02 Jun 13:52 -0500, [hidden email] wrote:
> So here is the question:
> In PSK I grasp that the bandwidth on the KX3 or K3 is set wide to establish the waterfall.
> For RTTY I understand that the radio has the special dual PB filter, BUT do I use it OR do I still set the wide filter for the waterfall?

Fldigi has its own DSP filtering and doesn't really care what the K3's
IF bandwidth is so long as it's wide enough to allow both mark and space
tones through; approximately 200 Hz or so. In a RTTY contest the use of
a narrower bandwidth can help when dealing with stronger adjacent
signals. Start wide and narrow up as you see fit.

> (I tried using the RTTY filter of the radio and the waterfall was 2 narrow blue tracks.)
>
> If RTTY usually is at 14080 and above then do I want the waterfall to start lower than that?

Be on lower sideband 45 baud. RTTY often spreads out over the top end
of the digital portion of the band and in a contest down well into the
traditionally CW portion. RTTY is not usually crowded into 3 to 4 kHz
of spectrum as PSK31 mostly is.

> Bumbling along on the digital learning curve...

Keep on learning! Make copious notes and plenty of QSOs. Have fun.

73, Nate N0NB

--

"The optimist proclaims that we live in the best of all
possible worlds. The pessimist fears this is true."

Ham radio, Linux, bikes, and more: http://www.n0nb.us
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Don Wilhelm-4

Re: fldigi and flrig and the filters of K3 and KX3

In reply to this post by jsdroyster

Julie,

You *can* just select RTTY (or CW) in Fldigi and operate just as you
would with PSK with the KX3 (or K3) in DATA A mode - you may have to
select REV (or INV) in Fldigi for RTTY since the rig is in USB and RTTY
normally uses LSB - CW will not care about the sideband selected.
Running that way, you are depending on the filtering in Fldigi to
adequately separate the signals - you can enhance that by reducing the
waterfall display width using the K3 (or KX3) shift and width (or HiCut
and LoCut if that is easier for you) controls to zero in on the desired
signal and eliminate interfering stations on the side (it also works
that way for PSK when things get crowded and there is a strong adjacent
signal reducing the sensitivity of the K3 by the AGC action).

It is usually easier to use MMTTY for RTTY operation and AFSK A mode on
the K3/KX3. AFSK A defaults to LSB, and the K3/KX3 and MMTTY displays
the mark frequency (as is normal for RTTY operators). There is no
waterfall, you tune in the desired signal, and if the band is crowded,
reduce the K3/KX3 filters to isolate that signal.

I would suggest you try the Fldigi approach first because you are
already set up for that and familiar with its operation in PSK.
Then for RTTY begin to try out MMTTY to see if that works out better for
you - if so, use it, if not, go back to Fldigi.

73,
Don W3FPR

On 6/2/2014 2:49 PM, [hidden email] wrote:

> Hello to all and THANKS in advance for enlightening me on fldigi and flrig used with KX3 and K3.
> We havwe been doing fine with fldigi alone (no flrig) and PSK on KX3 and K3.
> Now Larry (my husband K4MWE) wants to branch out to RTTY and to try CW via fldigi.
> (Yes, we want to learn to hear CW but Larry's hand is not going to be able to transmit with the key he bought years ago.)
>
> So here is the question:
> In PSK I grasp that the bandwidth on the KX3 or K3 is set wide to establish the waterfall.
> For RTTY I understand that the radio has the special dual PB filter, BUT do I use it OR do I still set the wide filter for the waterfall?
> (I tried using the RTTY filter of the radio and the waterfall was 2 narrow blue tracks.)
>
> If RTTY usually is at 14080 and above then do I want the waterfall to start lower than that?
>
> Bumbling along on the digital learning curve...
> 73,
> Julie KT4JR
>
>
>
> ______________________________________________________________
> Elecraft mailing list
> Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft
> Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm
> Post: mailto:[hidden email]
>
> This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net
> Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
> Message delivered to [hidden email]
>

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Don Wilhelm-4

Re: fldigi and flrig and the filters of K3 and KX3

In reply to this post by jsdroyster

Julie,

If Larry can copy CW OK, but has trouble using paddles for transmit, I
suggest you look into some of the offerings to allow the use of a
keyboard for CW. There are several possibilities - the K1EL K40 which
will allow keyboard operation without a computer. Alternately, the K1EL
Winkeyer which will give similar capabilities with many logging programs
- there are others too, just not as popular as the K1EL offerings.
That would allow tuning to the desired CW station with the VFO knob and
narrowing the filters as needed, and decoding the CW sound 'in the head'
rather than trying to click on the signal on a waterfall and depending
on the text on the display to decode properly.
The problem with allowing a program to decode CW is that while it will
properly decode machine sent CW, and does a fair job even of some
improperly sent CW, the human brain is more tolerant of variations in
spacing, dot to dash ratios, bug 'swings' and other variations of hand
sent code than any software for decoding CW available today.

73,
Don W3FPR

On 6/2/2014 2:49 PM, [hidden email] wrote: