My Favorite Digital Modes

[n5pvl]

I have several favorite digital modes, each suitable for a specific task.

Digital for Individual QSO:

AMTOR - Although I have not used AMTOR in a decade, my best DX and most enjoyable digital QSOs were in that mode. - So even though I no longer use AMTOR, it is still a personal favorite.

PSK31, PSK63 - These days, I use PSK modes for digital QSOs. They are spectrally efficient, and I consider the use of more bandwidth than needed to effect the desired communication to be just as irresponsible as using more power than is needed; Perhaps more so. - I tend to look down on amateurs who use wide data modes to DX or ragchew, just as I look down on amateurs who run unnecessarily high power with PSK.

To improve PSK modes - Eliminate Macros. A macro filter would be great. Something that would prevent them from printing on your screen, and thus discourage their use.

Note that other digital modes are not listed because they are not my personal favorites. Lots of great digital modes are out there that I do not use very much, if at all. - That doesn't mean that there is anything wrong with them.


Digital for Networking:

AX25 Packet - Packet is flexible, versatile, spectrally efficient, simple, responsible to use and inexpensive. No other digital mode approaches AX25 Packet's suitability for digital amateur radio networking on a local, regional and global basis, on any and all bands.

AX25 Packet has advanced considerably, but there is still a lot of room for improvement. Most useful now would be 'snap tuning' for SSB Packet, as inaccurate tuning accounts for the great majority of the problems we encounter with Packet on HF today. This one innovation would multiply AX25 Packet's already impressive capability for the development of our global digital network.

I would also like to see a scalable, variable bandwidth version of AX25 Packet for different propagation conditions and tasks we may encounter.

Note that amateur radio operators are the only group of private individuals who have the ways and means to fund, build and maintain a worldwide digital communications network, independent of the internet and commercial or government entities. This is our own mount Everest, that only we may climb 'because it is there'.

We do not have to worry about how our efforts compare to others in this area, as there are no other groups of private individuals who can reasonably attempt to approach this task. Whatever we accomplish here is the state of the art, and represents the combined, cooperative efforts of thousands of individual amateur radio operators around the globe.


Amateur Community Data Distribution:

RTTY - RTTY has been used for a long time to distribute data or information from one to many. The W1AW RTTY transmissions are a good example of amateurs utilizing the mode for this purpose. Incidentally, RTTY was also the first digital mode utilized by amateurs to develop a digital network. - RTTY mailboxes predated Packet BBS stations by quite a few years. So, despite RTTY's lack of error detection/correction, it is still an old favorite of mine just as AMTOR is for a QSO.

Amateur Multicast - John Hansen W2FS and Walt Fair Jr, W5ALT have pioneered the development of Multicast protocol for use on the ham bands.

Multicast is specifically designed for the distribution of data or information from one transmitting station to an unlimited number of recipients ( receiving stations ) at the same time. It is a great step forward from RTTY for this purpose as Multicast has error detection/correction and thus allows us to distribute not just Text but HTML, images and even executable data files. At the same time, HF Multicast delivers the best spectral efficiency of any amateur radio digital mode, bar none.

Amateur Multicast works best with PSK modes, and would benefit most from the development of multiple PSK streams to bump up the throughput and data capacity, while allowing the use of a command or 'back channel' for special classes of information.

These are my favorite digital modes... Each tool to its purpose.

My personal definition of a digital amateur radio mode, by the way, is "something that you cannot accomplish with just a key or a microphone". - Even if the data being transferred is analog in nature.