HFU HF Underground

General Category => General Radio Discussion => Topic started by: Foxy3243 on April 07, 2023, 1753 UTC

Title: Song Info TX mode
Post by: Foxy3243 on April 07, 2023, 1753 UTC
Hey I need to know, would you guys rather receive song info over SW through speedy CW, RTTY, or some other digital mode ?
Title: Re: Song Info TX mode
Post by: ~SIGINT~ on April 07, 2023, 1833 UTC
I would stay away from CW. There are lots of listeners on this board which are not amateur radio operators and would not be proficient with CW.

RTTY is a nice touch and MMTTY, in my opinion, is a nice free lite decoder that works very well.

What I think might be a great way to deliver the song info would be to create a cue sheet with your station ID etc ... and SSTV the whole thing. Pretty much everyone here is familiar with SSTV and is used by many of the other pirates.

My 2 cents ...

~SIGINT~
Title: Re: Song Info TX mode
Post by: Foxy3243 on April 07, 2023, 2102 UTC
Thank you! I have another question, do you have any experience with WinDRM/EasyPal, and what’s your opinion on it as an option to replace the SSTV you suggested?
Title: Re: Song Info TX mode
Post by: Pigmeat on April 08, 2023, 0120 UTC
You can always announce them on the air. It's easier than jumping through all those tech hoops.
Title: Re: Song Info TX mode
Post by: Shortwave_Listener on April 08, 2023, 0140 UTC
You can always announce them on the air. It's easier than jumping through all those tech hoops.

I suggest either this or SSTV. If you use anything more obscure than SSTV likely only a minority of listeners will be able to decode it.
Title: Re: Song Info TX mode
Post by: ~SIGINT~ on April 08, 2023, 0151 UTC
And EasyPal is an issue. It does not work beyond Windows XP. WinDRM has been succeeded by EasyDRF. I have played with EasyDRF but I have not really figured out how to make the images. I would say keep it simple and quick and pick a mode that is also available on the KiwiSDR receivers.
Title: Re: Song Info TX mode
Post by: redhat on April 08, 2023, 0546 UTC
I would run PSK31 just outside of your audio modulation.  If your running AM, you can simply inject PSK31 into the baseband audio just beyond your program audio bandwidth at about 10% modulation.

I assume the purpose of this is to provide a similar service to RDS on HF?

+-RH
Title: Re: Song Info TX mode
Post by: Sealord on April 08, 2023, 1959 UTC
I have been running EasyPal Ver.07/OCT/2014 on Windows 7 with no problem, but it takes good conditions & a strong signal to decode properly.
Title: Re: Song Info TX mode
Post by: ChrisSmolinski on April 09, 2023, 1329 UTC
I would run PSK31 just outside of your audio modulation.  If your running AM, you can simply inject PSK31 into the baseband audio just beyond your program audio bandwidth at about 10% modulation.

I assume the purpose of this is to provide a similar service to RDS on HF?

+-RH

I've thought something like this would be a neat idea, sort of an RDS type service for pirate stations. As RedHat suggests, if it's outside the main audio bandwidth and at a relative low modulation, it shouldn't be too annoying for listeners, but still fairly easy for PSK31 software to properly decode. Loop the song title, station ID, contact info, etc. All I ask is stations all use the same offset frequency for the PSK31 transmissions :P
Title: Re: Song Info TX mode
Post by: MDK2 on April 10, 2023, 1630 UTC
Loop the song title, station ID, contact info, etc.

Don't forget to take breaks as I believe that PSK31 is 80% duty mode.
Title: Re: Song Info TX mode
Post by: ChrisSmolinski on April 10, 2023, 2246 UTC
Loop the song title, station ID, contact info, etc.

Don't forget to take breaks as I believe that PSK31 is 80% duty mode.

Running it at a low modulation level (RH suggested 10%, you might even get away with less) should allow continuous use without any issues.