Northeast Missouri Amateur Radio Club
ARES Section
MO ARES NET
3598 nighttime & 7099 daytime - move to 3598 if qrm is bad
In a real emergency - go to 7063
Might use FSQCall for day to day ops
Run fldigi in background for possible traffic in mfsk32 mode
For me, the no signal SNR is somewhere around -15 or lower with the squelch set at -10.
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Some quick notes
allcall# message
NOTE: message can be blank
Will store the message in a file under your name on their station
All stations hearing that call, will answer with an ACK statement
To send a message to a station that can't hear you or even you hear it, try
(station you can hear);(station being called) message
NOTE: files are always txt files and end with txt
NOTE: files are stored in the fldigi.files\temp folder.
The fldigi.files folder is in the users home folder
To retreive a file from another station
(station)+[filename.txt]
To send a file to another station for storage
(station)#[filename.txt]
To append text to a file on another station
(station)#[filename]text to append
NOTE: if filename does not exist it will be created as filename.txt
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Standard freq for FSQ
North America
3594.0 80m
7104.0 40m
10144.0 30m
14104.0 20m
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General Notes copied from several sources
You can send the Query Heard List command to check how well (or if) another station(s) is hearing you.
If the station has heard you it should respond with whom it has heard, when and at what strength.
If the other station is not hearing you, then try sending at a slower speed.
A common mistake is to confuse "weak signal mode" with low power mode.
Higher power will probably prevent QRM as the software looks at the receive frequency and will not
transmit if a signal is above the squelch threshold. Since we all share a common
frequency and the protocol prevents collisions with signals that it can HEAR the low
power signal that is just "not quite strong enough" may well be transmitted on top of.
The power thing has been a big deal on PSK31 mainly because most people run their
receivers in the SSB bandwidth rather than a more appropriate 100 Hz. bandwidth. It is
true that a very strong signal within this SSB bandwidth will cause the receiver's
AGC to reduce the receiver gain as well as the similar actions within the sound card.
People perceive and condemn the power but the problem is usually within the receiver's
bandwidth and AGC settings.
This problem does not exist with FSQ, as currently implemented, as we are on the
same frequency, use narrow receiver bandwidths and/or narrow demodulator (fledge for
example) bandwidths. If you can hear the other signal you will not transmit on top
of it. If you can't hear it you probably will.
FSQ is not a low power mode, it is not very robust under weak, poor conditions.
You will sometimes need 100 watts to complete a contact or use lower power and
utilization of a relay station via the relay commands. That said, most of the
time...I do OK on 30m with 50 watts.
I changed my QTC message to provide info on my station, i.e. power out
and antenna. So others can query my QTH and QTC to check my station. I have
never called CQ in this FSQ mode. Rather just asked if any one is listening since
this is more like a party line. Still if using FSQCALL you have a separate CQ button.
On mine, I put "n5pvl monitoring" in QTC. Something that I can manually activate when I'm
in the shack, the frequency is clear, and I am ready to chat. - It lets everybody who can
hear, and is interested know that I am ready to chat. As FSQ is really a chat mode, as
opposed to being a formal QSO mode, I really see no point in calling CQ.
The QTC button is to the left of the QTH button. I edited mine to just indicate "listening" as
opposed to calling "CQ". I edited my QTH to include my name and then I set a text
file for station rundown.
Essentially there are two modes:
(1) The simpler, default mode (suits beginners), where every station
that transmits will appear on the main receive screen, whether they are
in Directed mode or not. No checksums are sent. This is the 'chat' mode.
(2) The Directed mode is the one which has the checksums. When YOUR
station is in Directed mode, your main screen will ONLY show messages
directed specifically to your call sign (or to 'allcall'). Messages with
incorrect syntax or sent in chat mode do NOT show, although you can keep
an eye on them in the Monitor tab of the Options Pane.
Further, the many selective commands provided in FSQ ONLY work when the
transmitting station and intended recipient are BOTH in Directed
(FSQCall) mode.
You've no easy way of knowing whether a CRC is valid or not, but the
program will work it out. For the message to show on your main receive
screen (not the Monitor) in Directed mode, it must:
(a) Have been sent in Directed mode (have a CRC).
(b) Be directed to your callsign (remember it's case sensitive), or to 'allcall'.
(c) Have a valid checksum matching the callsign.
(d) Have a valid trigger sent immediately after the checksum.
Other messages that meet only requirements (a) and (c) will still be
logged and appear in the Heard List. Stations in chat mode are not
logged because there is no way to verify the call sign.
Note that I am describing how I operate, and why. I do not require other stations to
operate the same way that I do. - How one operates is the responsibility of individual
hams to determine for themselves.
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