One of the problems I discovered using fldigi and digital modes with acoustic coupling is that my wife did not care to hear all that 'noise' coming out of the shack. One new Cricut® machine later and I have a Signalink soundcard interface on order. Should give me better performance without all that 'noise' and the wife can now cut 12" wide paper in addition to the current 6"..
To get fldigi set up, I used two computers with their sound cards talking to each other. For some off the air digital mode experience, Summit County ( Mondays at 7:30 PM on 444.550) and Portage County (Thursdays at 7:30 PM on 146.895) ARES® are trying to have a digital mode segment as part of their weekly nets. Also, Portage County Amateur Radio Service (PCARS) has been running digital nets the 1st and 3rd Tuesdays from 7;30-9:30 PM on 146.895.
Of possible interest, last week the Portage County ARES was trying EasyPAL as well as fldigi. EasyPAL allows transferring images. Claim was that it could send a pdf of a document around twice as fast as text with fldigi. While I was successful in sending an image between the two computers in the shack, the volume had to be much higher than with fldigi. It did not appear that acoustical coupling would be acceptable with EasyPAL. The noise was even bothering me in the shack. Something to explore a little more after I get my sound card interface installed and working.
EasyPAL might deserve a spot in my EMCOM toolkit along with fldigi
zeke, AB8OU
ps. The Cricut® machine cost quite a bit more than the Signalink.
"ARES” and “Amateur Radio Emergency Service” are registered servicemarks of the American Radio Relay League, Incorporated and are used by permission.
No comments:
Post a Comment