Path: utzoo!utgpu!ugw.utcs.utoronto.ca!CUVMA!SWL-L Date: Fri, 9 Feb 90 12:28:52 EST Reply-To: Mike Nowicki Sender: Short Wave Listener's List Comments: Warning -- original Sender: tag was From: Mike Nowicki Subject: Re: How do I monitor RTTY, FAX, and other HF Utility stations? X-To: swl-l@cuvmb.cc.columbia.edu To: UofToronto LAN redistribution Message-ID: <90Feb9.224901est.57976@ugw.utcs.utoronto.ca> Newsgroups: bitnet.swl-l Distribution: ut Approved: devnull@gpu.utcs.toronto.edu In article <1990Feb8.194719.7372@chinet.chi.il.us> megabyte@chinet.chi.il.us (Dr. Megabyte) writes: >Well it comes to this: I want to monitor all those buzzes, beeps and chirps >I hear on my Icom R71 and I now I need more equipment. I know there are >really two routes: > >1) Stand alone decoders that can connect to a printer monitor or >other RS-232 device > >2) Decoders that utilize your IBM computer for the brains. > >I happens to have a Radio Shack 1000 I don't use much I could utilize >in this endever. > >Here is the question: I see the Universal 'M' series of decoders starting >at about $500.00, I se several small RTTY, ASCII, and CW decoeders >with little 25 or so element "Times square marqee" displays and then >MJF has a RTTY, CW, and ASCII decoder that connects to an IBM PC for >about $75.00 > >What is the best way for a beginer to get into the monitoring of >the digital utility stations? How much can I expect to spend? >Should I go stand alone, "Marquee Display" type, or units that >require an external computer? Since you already have a computer, a powerful chunk of hardware, I would suggest getting add-on devices and the software to run them, rather than buying stand alone black boxes that are just very limited computers with limited functions. MFJ makes a radio modem that has just about every commonly used digital mode; CW, FAX, RTTY, AMTOR and few others I forgot. If your RS 1000 is a PC compatable you can choose from a wealth of software, both off-the-shelf and public domain. If you can program you can roll-yer-own shack software, which is what I did. The R71 is a darn good rig to copy digital modes with, and using your computer you'll have a lot of fun making sense of some of those chirps and warbles. There is one gotcha about RTTY on HF. Much of it is encrypted, often using very simple bit inversion techniques that can be easily broken with the right software. Most of the news services that used to be on HF have moved upward to satellites. Even still there is a lot of ham, weather and commercial RTTY being sent in the clear. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | Michael Nowicki N6LUU Atari Corp,Sunnyvale CA /TT/UNIX/X team | |............................................................................| | char *disclaimer=" Views expressed are my own, not my employer's"; | | char *good_quote=" 'Wait'll they get a load of me!' - The Joker"; | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------