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wa8yxm · 02-06-2008, 09:46 AM

Well... Just now my ham operation is more or less limited to a hour or so of SSB every evening (Scheduled formal (Wait your turn) net and the informal pre-net (Chaos mode, Just jump in) starting 4pm eastern on 3.935Mhz LSB. However as the weather improves a bit so I don't freeze my non-freezables off when sitting in the ham shack I'll do more PSK-31 as that is my primary mode of operation in the motor home. Really like it. Wrote an article on it IIRC for the Escapee's magazine (And I'm not even a member)

I really like PSK, for one thing in a motor home I'm a tad limited. I mean, I do have a kilowatt of power (In fact my 12 volt converter is almost exactly 1KW capable, and that is just one of the two, on-board converters... The other one is around 1400 watts peak output) but I'm already at the CCC limit for the rig so the weight of a Full Gallon would not be a good thing (Even a full gallon of water is not a good thing, and that's only 8.6 pounds I'm that close to the limit)

So how to put out a signal with decent PUNCH?

Well, Since I have Ham-Scope and DigiPan on my shack computer, and run one (if not both) of them most all the time, I can see the audio spectrum fairly well, Digipan gives me zero to over 5Khz and Ham Scope around 300 to 2700 IIRC (I'm not in the shack just now) I see that most SSB signals are around 2 to 2.5KHz wide.

That means if I'm running 2KW PEP, my power density is 1 watt per Hz. (or less, I have a low voice so i'd not be less) since I'm running 100 Watts (around 200 PEP) I'm at 0.1 watt when using SSB, Not a lot of power per Hz.

On PSK31.... I can easily run 30-50 watts, PSK-31 is 31 Hz wide, so if I'm running 31 watts I'm 1-watt per Hz, same as the SSB user pushing a full gallon.

So, sitting here in Detroit, with a 100 foot long wire tied to a automatic random wire tuner on the back of the bus (Well, Motor home) Can I reach Texas.. (Many times) Nevada (Likewise) Florida (No problem) N.E. Coast (You bet) Over seas (sure thing, and I have the paper to prove it too

) I mean,,, I've never knew that IRC's were no longer green till I put PSK software in the computer and built my interface.

That's another thing.. Though you do need a computer. there is a HOME BREW op in the interface, and there is nothing quite like taking some piece of hardware that YOU designed and built and putting it on the air for the first time and having it work, Even if it's just a computer <-> Radio interface. I mean.. I haven't felt like that since my first NOVICE contact with John Quincy Adams SR.

(NO, I'm not that old and President Adams, far as I know, was not a ham, but my first novice contact was indeed John Qunicy Adams Sr. and he did work for the government)

02-06-2008, 09:46 AM	#4
wa8yxm Senior Member Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Mobile, on the road Posts: 1,139	Well... Just now my ham operation is more or less limited to a hour or so of SSB every evening (Scheduled formal (Wait your turn) net and the informal pre-net (Chaos mode, Just jump in) starting 4pm eastern on 3.935Mhz LSB. However as the weather improves a bit so I don't freeze my non-freezables off when sitting in the ham shack I'll do more PSK-31 as that is my primary mode of operation in the motor home. Really like it. Wrote an article on it IIRC for the Escapee's magazine (And I'm not even a member) I really like PSK, for one thing in a motor home I'm a tad limited. I mean, I do have a kilowatt of power (In fact my 12 volt converter is almost exactly 1KW capable, and that is just one of the two, on-board converters... The other one is around 1400 watts peak output) but I'm already at the CCC limit for the rig so the weight of a Full Gallon would not be a good thing (Even a full gallon of water is not a good thing, and that's only 8.6 pounds I'm that close to the limit) So how to put out a signal with decent PUNCH? Well, Since I have Ham-Scope and DigiPan on my shack computer, and run one (if not both) of them most all the time, I can see the audio spectrum fairly well, Digipan gives me zero to over 5Khz and Ham Scope around 300 to 2700 IIRC (I'm not in the shack just now) I see that most SSB signals are around 2 to 2.5KHz wide. That means if I'm running 2KW PEP, my power density is 1 watt per Hz. (or less, I have a low voice so i'd not be less) since I'm running 100 Watts (around 200 PEP) I'm at 0.1 watt when using SSB, Not a lot of power per Hz. On PSK31.... I can easily run 30-50 watts, PSK-31 is 31 Hz wide, so if I'm running 31 watts I'm 1-watt per Hz, same as the SSB user pushing a full gallon. So, sitting here in Detroit, with a 100 foot long wire tied to a automatic random wire tuner on the back of the bus (Well, Motor home) Can I reach Texas.. (Many times) Nevada (Likewise) Florida (No problem) N.E. Coast (You bet) Over seas (sure thing, and I have the paper to prove it too ) I mean,,, I've never knew that IRC's were no longer green till I put PSK software in the computer and built my interface. That's another thing.. Though you do need a computer. there is a HOME BREW op in the interface, and there is nothing quite like taking some piece of hardware that YOU designed and built and putting it on the air for the first time and having it work, Even if it's just a computer <-> Radio interface. I mean.. I haven't felt like that since my first NOVICE contact with John Quincy Adams SR. (NO, I'm not that old and President Adams, far as I know, was not a ham, but my first novice contact was indeed John Qunicy Adams Sr. and he did work for the government)