Stereo-RTTY: How can We Leverage It?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Last evening, I finally found time to find graphic images for Part 1 of this Blog topic. 
In reviewing the text of Part 1, it occurred to me that there is more to say about using
the  Stereo-RTTY concepts as an enhanced tuning aid.  I still remember a dozen years
ago working towards "getting the hang" of tuning in RTTY signals.  Properly tuning-in RTTY
signals is TRULY an ART.

Today, my decoder of choice is the classic Freebie App MMTTY and it's FIR tuning display. 
When a signal with sufficient signal/noise ratio is properly tuned in, the tones align perfectly
with the "goal posts" and happiness, more-or-less reigns.  What follows is an edited cut/paste
from Part 1 of this Blog, explaining this a bit more succinctly.

With RTTY, in order to achieve proper/accurate decoding, the station must be precisely tuned-in
more-or-less on the EXACT frequency in order for the individual tones to be properly decoded. 
Stereo-RTTY makes this operation more quickly accurate.

Remember: the essential benefit of the "Stereo" concept is to have calling stations arranged
"around" the operating position in a more-or-less 180-degree azimuth arc.  As it turns out, Stereo-RTTY is most useful when calling stations are considerably off frequency.  When you think about
it,  if several stations are calling on EXACTLY the correct frequency (as technically they should be), they will jumble over each other, making proper decoding tricky at best.

With Stereo-RTTY, the idea is to adjust the Peak Frequency of the external filters (which for WQ6X
is a pair of Autek QF-1A's) such that the signal "appears directly in front" of the operator; the idea being that the Mark/Space tones should be PEAKED by each QF-1A filter.  From that moment forward, tuning in other callers becomes considerably easier.  Off-frequency calling stations will
then appear "to the left" and "to the right" of the listening experience.  We of course use the (CLAR) control for tuning-in the station until property RTTY-decoding is achieved.  

With Stereo-RTTY, the listening "position" of that station should shift more-or-less towards the center of the listening experience.  The individual RTTY tones should "appear" more-or-less on either side of the center listening experience, peaking precisely over the goal posts and giving us a near-PERFECT "+" decoder icon.

During the intensity of a contest, it's easy to forget reset the Clarifier after each QSO.  Luckily,
many radios (such as the Yaesu FT-1000mp and FT-2000) have an easily-accessible CLEAR button.  Additionally, logging software (such as N1MM+) have a MACRO command ({CLEARRIT}) shifting the radio back to the original RUN frequency.  I have added this Macro to the F3-Key.

I've yet to conduct the RigExpert audio intercept (as mentioned in Part 1). 
That gives us something to look forward to.

Have you ever tried futzing around with Stereo-RTTY?

It's actually a LoT of FUN!