RTTY contest

Started by Archangel320420, September 28, 2013, 12:06:20 AM

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Archangel320420

Just when ya thought it could get no worse. All the QRP freqs have RTTY signals. Must be a contest?

KK0G

Yep, CQ WW RTTY DX Contest. It was very tough finding a clear frequency for Wes and my sked this evening.

"Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety" - Benjamin Franklin

KK0G

KC9TNH

Quote from: KK0G on September 28, 2013, 01:37:39 AM
Yep, CQ WW RTTY DX Contest. It was very tough finding a clear frequency for Wes and my sked this evening.
Yep, busy place. However - twice now - having a mutually agreed upon procedure that only takes 15 minutes to run through has put us together right where we needed to be. In fact, time before last night we were 12 minutes into the sked window and, well, suddenly there we were.
:)

Imagine with the contest the CW'ers ran into safety of the 30m forest, which was then busy for us, so it became 80. 80 was squeaking, morphing, changing though; it's almost like a living monster on its own, with live convective activity thrown in as a bonus - as Billy Gibbons would say, "nationwide."

RadioRay

I was actually hearing RTTY from 14135 down to 14020 ...  Disgusting, isn't it?  It's an international band, so U.S. limitations do not universally apply, but none the less, the 'well it's legal so I am going to do it regardless of who I push off the bands' mentality and the idea that a contest is more important than anyone else's access to the bands causes this pandemonium. They HAVE TO RESPECT MY RIGHTS TO CONTEST!!!!  Mentality has taken hold. Read through the 'contesting' forum on Eham and you'll see this is quite literally true. 

Just because we're called 'hams' is no reason to behave like pigs.


de RadioRay ..._ ._

"When we cannot do the good we would, we must be ready to do the good we can."  ~ Matthew Henry

gil

Couldn't agree more.. They will start transmitting on top of a CW QSO without a care in the world. They do transmit their calls every few seconds on QRP calling frequencies too. Next time I hear that, I will email the contester! They should be told it's not all right. I've done so before, and the guy apologized. It's like nice people becoming a-holes when they get behind a wheel... No excuse. They wouldn't do it if they were sitting next to me, that's for sure. Hiding behind a radio  >:(.

Gil.

KC9TNH

#5
I saw a mass email today about a QRP "event" (with 1x1 stations) coming up that was gonna run 6-12 October, something like that, with the NAQCC sprint right in the middle. It's an "event" so it's not a contest even though there are points and things awarded. I guess that's how they can get on 30m as well. Non-contesters will decry them, they will decry the guys running 1500w, everyone will be looking for room on the bands, there will be gnashing of teeth and the ionosphere will implode.

Is this a great planet or what?
;D

Edited to add: Hmm. Looking at the A index maybe it already did...

Archangel320420

Very well said, KC9THN. haaaaaaaaaaa.

I kind of like the idea of hiding among these powerful RTTY stations like we do now on 7.037 Mhz. I don't think anyone in authority would take the effort to copy our puny CW signals. That being said, in SHTF the grid goes down, and so do those 1500 Watt stations, electric fences. computers, TV birdies, etc. Should be extremely and pleasantly quiet on HF in SHTF. The bad thing about that, it will be very easy to find our signals, DF us and (WHAM, BAM, Thank you maam) !!!

RadioRay

#7
GRIN - Like water through a chain link fence where a bowling ball cannot go.

"When we cannot do the good we would, we must be ready to do the good we can."  ~ Matthew Henry

madball13

that contest was brutal. I tried linking up on the taprn bbs and couldn't find a clear channel. luckily the bbs in Maine has an 80m channel that I was a able to connect through.

mdmc

Quote from: Archangel320420 on October 02, 2013, 08:20:41 PM
Very well said, KC9THN. haaaaaaaaaaa.

<snip>    That being said, in SHTF the grid goes down, and so do those 1500 Watt stations, electric fences. computers, TV birdies, etc. Should be extremely and pleasantly quiet on HF in SHTF. The bad thing about that, it will be very easy to find our signals, DF us and (WHAM, BAM, Thank you maam) !!!

Would NVIS make signals more difficult to track? Since the coverage area would be less, how about a network of "QRP  NVIS repeaters?  ;D  :-X

KK0G

Quote from: mdmc on October 05, 2013, 12:56:29 AM
Would NVIS make signals more difficult to track? Since the coverage area would be less, how about a network of "QRP  NVIS repeaters?  ;D :-X


I doubt that would work since the network of monitoring stations for triangulation would probably far exceed the network of QRP NVIS repeaters.
"Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety" - Benjamin Franklin

KK0G

RadioRay

#11
Actually, for terrestrial direction finders 'pure NVIS' is very much more difficult to DF than long range HF.  The long range signals come in much closer to the horizon, while NVIS from a low antenna with low power levels has little in the way of ground wave, the received NVIS signal comes in from almost straight up


"We've invested millions of person hours, billions of taxpayers' dollars and located the target transmitter!
It's UP THERE!"

Depending upon distance, between stations, you can even enhance this by making your contacts from deep within canyons, urban canyons, and etc. further reducing ground wave and increasing the echoes from false locations. You definitely WANT many echoes of your signal, coming from places where you are not.

Low angle DF =   Water balloon thrown at you from ground level. (You know the direction)
NVIS DF =  Water balloon dropping out of the sky, onto your head. (Who did that?)

Now , if they have a few HF RDF aircraft, at high altitude, when 'they can 'see' your actual transmission site directly, suddenly it's a very accurate DF shot. However, HF in general is much more problematic to DF than VHF/UHF/SHF and etc. The longer wavelengths tend to hug terrain, use terrain and man made features as reflectors and etc. Time-of-arrival DF systems can be amazingly accurate, but NVIS is still a significant problem, because measuring in obscenely small time increments from signals REFRACTED from right over your head - well - it's accurate math but from a signal source coming from a constantly shifting medium.

If you've made it into the top ten most wanted at NSA - you're already in in deep kimchee and beyond the scope of this forum. You would absolutely NOT want to try using electronics to evade them.  - I'd suggest passing paper notes, using the fastest running/riding kids in your neighborhood, pay them well and ensure that they are afraid to cross you: it worked for the Somali warlord, Aidid. //Grin// 

If the concerns are more about a sophisticated group of looters, then yes - NVIS with short 'bursty' type transmissions, well encrypted would make a huge difference for area and strategic comms. One generation back, this was state of the art spook comm. Against even a well organized gang those old techniques would be extremely effective at not being detected, no one reading your messages and not being DF'd.


de RadioRay ..._ ._

"When we cannot do the good we would, we must be ready to do the good we can."  ~ Matthew Henry