Have other ALE users found that they could not transmit on a busy frequency when using PC-ALE?
(Note: there are no channels on HF amateur radio frequencies except on 60 meters which prohibits ALE and digital operation of any kind). Perhaps I have things set up wrong, but I did a basic test of this recently and my rig transmitted right on top of another station. This was a test so I had the power turned to minimum (a watt or two at most). 73, Rick, KV9U expeditionradio wrote: > > A few weeks ago, during the discussion about busy detectors, I > described some of the different busy detect systems that are currently > in use by various comm systems. Ham radio ALE operators are some of > the few on HF who are actually using busy detection on a regular daily > basis. These are in use with ALE for manual, semi-automatic, and > automatic operation. > > There are two levels of busy detect normally in use with ALE. Both of > these are available in PCALE and ALE hardware radios: > > 1. The first, basic busy detection level for ALE, recognizes ALE > signals and other digi or CW signals that are mostly sine waves within > the active signal occupancy range of audio frequencies. This type of > busy detect is always enabled on ALE systems, and cannot be turned off > by the operator. It also is used to recognize signals and frequently > causes the ALE controller to pause while scanning. It prevents > sounding or calls on top of other signals. If a sounding or scanning > call transmission is prevented by this detector, the ALE controller > comes back to the channel and tries again a few minutes later. The > purpose of this is to prevent signal collisions of any type, and the > listen time constant is short. > > 2. The second type of ALE busy detection is commonly known as "channel > occupancy check", "polite mode", or "voice detect" and it detects > signals that are voice-like within, above, and below the active signal > occupancy range of audio frequencies. It is normally selectable on/off > by the operator, and the listen time constant is long. It is good to > enable it whenever a scanning call is being made. If a sounding or > scanning call transmission is prevented by this detector, the ALE > controller comes back to the channel and tries again a few minutes > later. It is mostly used for ALE operation on the voice channels, but > it has some benefit for normal non-critical or non-emergency > application on the data channels also. As implemented in many ALE > systems this super-polite detector tends to falsely prevent ALE > transmissions very often. It can often be a royal pain in the rear end > because of the close spacing between signals found on the ham bands. > > 73 Bonnie KQ6XA > . > > > > > > > >
