Timewave DSP-232, Operating Manual

Page: 164 / 271

Chapter 9 AMTOR Operation
Killing the Link
If, while the other station has control of the link, you have to end the conversation immediately, you can do so by
entering
( CTRL-C ) R ( RETURN ) . This will put you into
AMtor STBY RCVE
mode. If there are characters left
in the transmit buffer, they won’t be sent. Enter TC to clear the buffer.
Bailing out like this isn’t a recommended procedure since it leaves the other station “holding the bag”—he won’t
know that you left until his software timer “times out” waiting for an acknowledgement signal from you that will
never come. A “graceful” way of performing the same function is
(
CTRL-C
)
ACHG
(
CTRL-D
) or (
CTRL-C
)
ACHG ( CTRL-C ) D ( RETURN ) .
Another alternative is to enter (
CTRL-F ) to break the link and send your Morse ID. Your DSP will switch to the
Morse mode, send your callsign at the speed set by
MSPEED
, then will shut off your transmitter.
Roundtable QSOs
With your DSP, it’s possible to start or join in on a roundtable discussion where two or more hams get together on
the same frequency to chat. All you have to do to transmit is be in the FEC AMTOR mode.
If you want to listen in on a roundtable QSO where stations
aren’t linked (FEC), enter AM .
Note : Because you’ll be in
AMtor STBY RCVE
mode, no error correction will take place.
If you want to transmit:
1. Enter FEC to key your transmitter; You’re now in the Converse mode, so anything you type will be sent in
FEC by your transmitter..
2. When you finished typing your message, enter ( CTRL-D ). This will put you in
AMtor STBY RCVE
mode, so you’ll be able to copy the other station(s).
3. Repeat Step 1 when you want to transmit again.
“Hidden” QSOs
Say you want to send a message to a group of friends without other stations (initially) reading your message? By
using SELFEC, you can do just that.
What you need to do is have you and your group use a common
MYALTCALL like GROU (GROUp), for example.
Once you’ve all entered
MYALTCAL GROU
and the others have entered the AMTOR mode, you’d enter:
SELFEC GROU
(
RETURN
)
Hi, everybody -- glad you all could make it tonight. ( CTRL-D )
It’ll take a few moments, but the text will appear on everybody’s else’s screen at the same time; the PHASE and
SELFEC lights in the DSPs Status Window on the front panel will glow as your message is sent—the IDLE light
will glow when no text is sent. Since you all share the same
MYALTCAL , you can all take turns transmitting
apparently encrypted (to non-participants) text to each other.
The reason why your message won’t be intially read by non-participants is because your mark and space tones’
polarities are reversed using SELFEC. If an eavesdropping station figures out what you’re up to, it can listen in by
turning its
RXREV command on.
This mode of operation works for both one-to-one QSOs and group chats.
Operating Tips and Options
ID’ing Yourself
The FCC requires station identification once every ten minutes while you’re engaged in a QSO. It’s sufficient to
begin or end your transmission with
QRA
(
callsign
) before the
+?
changeover code, or you can enter (
CTRL-B
) to
send your own Auto-AnswerBack (
AAB
) message.
AAB —Auto-AnswerBack—AMTOR allows you to request the identity of the station you’re conversing with by
entering ( CTRL-E ). This causes the DSP to send a FIGS-D request to the other station.
September, 05 9-5