All, It's always interesting to see how different modes perform under adverse conditions. The polar ionosphere can be especially brutal on throughput and choosing the right mode can make all the difference.
To illustrate this, I recorded a few QSO's I made this evening with JA1RZD, UA0QGG and RA0QW. All paths cut through the polar ionosphere from here in W2. The fluttery signals were easily recognizable by sight and sound. In a nutshell, JA1RZD's MFSK16 signal was near perfect copy. There was some obvious signal spreading that's typical on this path, but there were no garbled characters to speak of. That wasn't the case when I found him just a few minutes later working W9 on PSK31. Signal strength was the same but copy wasn't good. It would have been difficult to carry on a conversation as the text shows. I worked UA0QGG and RA0QW on PSK31 a few minutes later and the results were the same; difficult copy despite strong signals. A switch over to one of the MFSK modes would have improved things dramatically under those conditions. Low latitude paths (spread-F) show a similar kind of instability so this sort of thing is not just confined to the polar ionosphere. Thankfully, we have a number of modes that overcome this. BTW -- this is not to say that the PSK31 mode is no good; it is probably the best spectrum-friendly, user-friendly weak signal mode available and works just fine most of the time. It just goes to show that all modes can't do all things all the time. See text below... Tony -K2MO ________________________________________________________________________ (JA1RZD on MFSK16) K2MO K2MO de JA1RZD JA1RZD Roger Tony. Tnx for the report. The WX here is fine and temp is 7 C. Here is my setup: Transceiver : IC-746 with IC-PW1 amp at 250 watts on PSK31 350 watts on MFSK 700 watts on RTTY Antenna : Five element tribander for 20, 15, 10 meter bands and add on rotary dipole for 40 m. Four element dual bander for 17 and 12 meter bands Software : MMVARI by JE3HHT Interface : Home brew PC : Celeron CPU 2GHz, RAM 1GB I would like to exchange QSL cards via the bureau. If you cannot use the bureau, send me your card durectly. I am OK on QRZ.com. BTU K2MO Tony de JA1RZD KN K2MO K2MO de JA1RZD JA1RZD Tnx for the Contact, Tony. I hope to see you soon on the air. Thank you very much for the QSO. Best 73 and Sayonara from Tokyo Japan. K2MO Tony de JA1RZD sk .... CQ CQ CQ CQ DX DE JA1RZD JA1RZD JA1RZD Q CQ CQ CQ DX DE JA1RZD JA1RZD JA1RZD CQ CQ CQ CQ DX DE JA1RZD JA1RZD JA1RZD Pse kkk (JA1RZD on PSK31) DX DE JA1RZD JyyRZD JA1RrtD CQ rCQ CQ a a D. JA1RZD fn yRZD JAs RZD CQ Ct CQ Cm 1X DE JA1"CD JA1R= - JA1kZD Pseepkk anr n e kRe ea ti e -Vet: pis o o e = v,g noto mi_ e.ee)nee…ht QR} zRZ QRZ7e J €RZa 1Rtel JeÉRZk k N W9NCQ de JA1RZD JA1R dD‰ Good a ternoon ‘a. lhank yqu ve msch fo your seply. Yout sigdl R-Q ns E49 u4949. Mame is ben Ken KeeKen. My QTH is Nisö Tok o City, Nisé Toky ity, Nishi ToFyo City, ×t 2) km west of central Tokyo. G etd Lonator is PM95sr wae9tesr BTU WVNCW de JA1ROV KNÄti eÏŽhe e on n Ae W9NCQ W9rQ de JA1OCD JA1RZD OK Roger. T for the report. r My age is C9 and I have three nailiren and one grandstn. I obtained mA -i ee license in 1964 an=p eavebne enj ctng DXing and chatte' I lso have FExtretnl9s lice e , N1s G. ethe WD hetbif clo dy now anddeeep is 7 i outs ae. herry nsomsare now vb bu 7 is rathD asld over ome last few t aysi Eo we e an enjod cherry blossoms longer than ordinary geth. Here is eetup: Transs iver : IC-74a with IC-PW1 am Eon 50 watts on PSK31 watts on MFSK iZg0 watts on RTTY Antenoe : e F f element tribander for 20, 5, 10 m= r bands ane add on rota=Edipol not *0 m. oKeure en ten al ‡nder for 17 ans Gleleter bands o seeeãhe t MA n JE3Ht _ (UA0QGG PSK31) ICQ CQ CQ DE UA0QGG U 0QGG UA0QGG CQ pse K CQ CQ DE UA0QGGþA0QpG UA0QGG CQ CQ CQDE UA0QGG UA0Q UA0QpG CQ e pse K iseenow ™m ..... KMO de UAgQGG Aood eveningDR Tony RSQ 5es9 599 et N E Vas¶y erasily,(1es56/ie2) QTH Yakutsk Yakut ek ,NE AI Russia LOC PPM2QA PP42QA Last QSO 09.10.m008 20M BPSK31 HW? K2MO de UA0QGG pek ehI sv vh natof o ...K2mO Tony de UA0QGG UA0QGG ...TNX FOR FB QSO BPSK31 ...+SL VIA BUREAU OR DIRECA 100URE ...ALL TttE BEST! WISHYOU GhOD LreCK! ...My RigÓIC-756PRO3 60w,Ant:2el Qu(15et 0m) K2MO de UA0QGG kn. r in ees* no e o eeert tat (RW0QW PSK31) ae e a tots wtA f0QW CQ CQ CQ Do nA0oiW RA0QW CA0QW CQ use J K2yO K2MO t e RA0toQ. xood eveoing DR OM SQ 599 599 , NAME: lentin -alentin (model c950y) m TH ot Peryungri Neta ungri , LO i : PO26 PO26HP RDA G YA-03Y -ae3 HW? K2M’d RAaeQW pse¸ o de t te e e.et t eeR g> t K2y= % 0 L X eaOR A F JS’dr MM, CU´AND BeoST eiE K yte de RA0QW BYEte 7eo SK
