# Packet Radio



## sgtusmc98 (Sep 8, 2013)

Finally got my HF rig set up to do digital communications. The only one I've used so far is PSK 31. It is amazing how much less power is needed to get solid printable messages out and how easy it is to make contacts. Still a lot of fine tuning needed on my end but in an emergency it could be really nice to have. Setting up the computer, software, and radio is a pain though.


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## Sentry18 (Aug 5, 2012)

So just presuming I have no idea what a packet radio is or what a PSK-31 is, drop some education on me. Sounds like some kind of Ham radio email service.


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## bkt (Oct 10, 2008)

Yes, it's an amateur radio thing. Voice - even single sideband - takes a fair amount of power and bandwidth. Digital communications require less of each - you get more bang for the buck.

This Wednesday, I'll be taking my General exam and soon thereafter I want to experiment with digital on HF. Sgt, if you could share what you've learned that would be really helpful.


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## bacpacker (Jul 15, 2011)

Try WinLink 2000 if you want to use Digital HF to send/receive e-mail. It's used world wide, in particular with sailors at sea. It can also be set up to work on VHF or UHF on a more local level


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## sgtusmc98 (Sep 8, 2013)

Sentry18 said:


> So just presuming I have no idea what a packet radio is or what a PSK-31 is, drop some education on me. Sounds like some kind of Ham radio email service.


Psk 31 is one of many packets, packet being digital written word. Winlink as another post stated is email that can be retrieved either through internet like the old AOL or through your radio connected to your computer. I believe there are basically two ways to send a winlink message, there are variations but for basic purposes there are two, one involves the internet somewhere, it may be Japan but somewhere you put your email in a server of sorts and then it can be accessed by computer or the person that received the email can access their inbox either the radio that is linked to their computer and check for messages. Option 2 is sending an email straight to someone with no internet at all. They either receive it or they don't, but if they do a "hand shake" takes place and you know that message was received. As far as delivery I believe there is always a handshake with winlink but that doesn't mean the other person saw it just that it got delivered.

Other packets that I know of are more vague, unless you get a response. APRS is a tactical packet that just sends a message out, maybe it's received maybe it's not and in general it's not specific, I get APRS messages all the time that say "I'm on the way!" And I have no idea who is sending it.

PSK31 was one of the earliest packet programs, I looking at my computer screen hooked to my radio see a "water fall" time occurring in a certain range of frequencies, (this is true in all packets besides APRS and winlink that I know of) in this waterfall you see transmissions with the curser you select that transmission for your decoding and if you have the right one (earlier I said there were many kinds of packets) words will come out on your screen. There is no inbox or recording, unless someone records it, it's a conversation via keyboard over radio waves, you can scroll back and you can print so far back in time but not after your computer is off.

You can communicate farther with a lower power setting but it's not necessarily less power. If I talk on HF I have talked to 20 different countries (that's not much) with 100 watts of power but the amps drawn by the radio never goes above maybe 6 amps because of voice fluctuations and such. With most packets including Morse Code, it's like your screaming the whole time, my radio set to 30 watts draws 11 amps consistently through the whole transmission of packet.

There are many different things with packet and I'm new at it for sure but in addition to words pictures can be sent as well (slow scan tv) SSTV.


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## sgtusmc98 (Sep 8, 2013)

This is something like how your computer would look, in the top big tan box is incoming stuff, here it's just gibberish, in the big blue box is what you type, and the dark blue at the bottom is the waterfall that continues to scroll, the yellow on it is some transmission.


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## sgtusmc98 (Sep 8, 2013)

bkt said:


> Yes, it's an amateur radio thing. Voice - even single sideband - takes a fair amount of power and bandwidth. Digital communications require less of each - you get more bang for the buck.
> 
> This Wednesday, I'll be taking my General exam and soon thereafter I want to experiment with digital on HF. Sgt, if you could share what you've learned that would be really helpful.


Good luck on your test, general and Extra are hard, studied my butt off and couldn't pass either one of them now!

I tried 3 different programs MixW3, Ham radio Deluxe, and Fidigi. Fidigi is the one I use. of course your radio has to support digital stuff in a way, most good HF rigs should, my old ICOM 706mkiig has data ports but I'm not using them. Basically a speaker wire from the radio goes into the mic jack of your computer, you do need a sound card or a sound card interface to quarterback all this stuff but mostly it tells your radio to key up when you want to transmit, that's the hard part, getting your computer to acknowledge something is there.

I'd be happy to try to answer specifics but with out specifics it's hard to be specific.


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## weedygarden (Apr 27, 2011)

Is it me? So many acronyms and cryptic terms. Assume I know nothing, because I don't. After reading the explanation, I still don't. :dunno:

I wrote a whole bunch more and deleted it. Be glad I did.


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## sgtusmc98 (Sep 8, 2013)

Earlier I had it on the wrong setting but here is some PSK31, there is always going to be some Gibberish in there during dead time or static, that's not me so rolling there house won't do any good.


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## sgtusmc98 (Sep 8, 2013)

weedygarden said:


> Is it me? So many acronyms and cryptic terms. Assume I know nothing, because I don't. After reading the explanation, I still don't. :dunno:
> 
> I wrote a whole bunch more and deleted it. Be glad I did.


I'd be happy to explain if I knew what you were referring too, the post just prior to your post really only had one acronym I know of and that was HF ( high frequency) ICOM is a brand.

Nobody knows what PSK31 means except Wikipedia

PSK31 or "Phase Shift Keying, 31 Baud", also BPSK31 and QPSK31, is a popular computer-sound card-generated radioteletype mode, used primarily by amateur radio operators to conduct real-time keyboard-to-keyboard chat, most often using frequencies in the high frequency amateur radio bands (near-shortwave). PSK31 is distinguished from other digital modes in that it is specifically tuned to have a data rate close to typing speed, and has an extremely narrow bandwidth, allowing many conversations in the same bandwidth as a single voice channel. This narrow bandwidth also concentrates the RF energy[citation needed] in a very narrow bandwidth, allowing relatively low-power equipment (25 watts) to communicate globally using the same skywave propagation used by shortwave radio stations.

APRS
Automatic Packet Reporting System (APRS) is an amateur radio-based system for real time digital communications of information of immediate value in the local area.[1] Data can include object Global Positioning System (GPS) coordinates, weather station telemetry, text messages, announcements, queries, and other telemetry. APRS data can be displayed on a map, which can show stations, objects, tracks of moving objects, weather stations, search and rescue data, and direction finding data.

Winlink

Winlink, also known as the Winlink 2000 Network, is a worldwide radio messaging system that uses amateur-band radio frequencies to provide radio interconnection services that include email with attachments, position reporting, weather bulletins, emergency relief communications, and message relay. The system is built and administered by volunteers and administered by the Amateur Radio Safety Foundation Inc., an American charitable entity and 501c(3) non-profit organization.[1]


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## sgtusmc98 (Sep 8, 2013)

Didn't mean to be a butt saying no one knows what PSK31 means except Wikipedia, I didn't know what it meant so I looked it up.


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## DKRinAK (Nov 21, 2011)

"Packet" radio is a mode that uses a Amateur derivative of the error correcting protocol used in old-school telephone data transmissions. Called AX-25 it is both very slow at HF frequencies and considered obsolete.

PSK-31 is keyboard to keyboard - for chatting, in a matter of speaking. Like the old mode of AMTOR - itself a derivative of SITOR (Shipboard teleprinting over radio) it was considered outdated decades ago. I had an AMTOR Cart for my old VIC-20 - to give you an idea of the age....

PACTOR uses a proprietary data stream available only from an (expensive) modem.

Newer digital modes - like JT-8 are faily slow as well.

Ham radio is fun, but it does require staying in tune with current technology.


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## dademoss (Aug 6, 2011)

For anyone interested in learning more, the ARRL has a page on digital communications, and links to other resources from there.

http://www.arrl.org/digital-data-modes


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## drfacefixer (Mar 8, 2013)

weedygarden said:


> Is it me? So many acronyms and cryptic terms. Assume I know nothing, because I don't. After reading the explanation, I still don't. :dunno:
> 
> I wrote a whole bunch more and deleted it. Be glad I did.


In fairness, this is why this is reserved more so in the bands that require general or extra licensing. It's a bit more to understand than just the basics of radio. I use it primarily because i go for distance and weak contacts on battery/solar portable equipment and I don't always like talking into a Mike. Macros make the chit part of radio quick and easy.


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## TheLazyL (Jun 5, 2012)

sgtusmc98 said:


> Good luck on your test, general and Extra are hard, studied my butt off and couldn't pass either one of them now!
> ...


Have they dropped the Morse code requirement?


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## sgtusmc98 (Sep 8, 2013)

TheLazyL said:


> Have they dropped the Morse code requirement?


Yes there is no Morse code requirement. Of course there is argument over that. There are many who think it should be required but they are the ones that had to do it but most of them even recognize that removing the Morse requirement revitalized amateur radio. I personally don't know if I could learn Morse code, I keep trying but from years of jack hammers, rock drills, and machine guns my hearing isn't the best, it's still fine and no doctor would tell me I need a hearing aid but I can't pick out the dots and dashes unless it's exaggerated.


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## sgtusmc98 (Sep 8, 2013)

The hard part with the General and Extra tests is that they are still focused on building radios and hardware. For me I will probably never build a radio, I will put systems together but it's not necessarily the same and it's hard to know how to do something if you've never done it and legally can't. Of course you could build a radio but you couldn't test it on HF unless you had a friend do it.

I basically had to do lots of memorization much of which I have forgotten but if someone is talking about something I know basically what they are talking about, so that's a benefit.


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## dademoss (Aug 6, 2011)

If anyone is interested in learning, there is a free Technician Class study guide here, for the current question pool:

https://www.kb6nu.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/2014-no-nonsense-tech-study-guide-v20.pdf


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## bkt (Oct 10, 2008)

I've been using http://hamstudy.org/ to go over the flashcards and practice exams for General. The info for Technician and Extra are there, too.


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## bkt (Oct 10, 2008)

I got my General ticket! The link above was pretty helpful for me and you're encouraged to take a look. It's free, too.


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## sgtusmc98 (Sep 8, 2013)

bkt said:


> I got my General ticket! The link above was pretty helpful for me and you're encouraged to take a look. It's free, too.


Congratulations! It opens up a whole lot more too. If you haven't already you can have a logbook on QRZ.com, there are several of course but that one is very common.


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