[Moon] [Moon-net] assisted or not question de SM5LE

[Joe Taylor]

Hi Sven,

SM5LE wrote:
> My "wondering" for the "assisted or not" question:
> 
> How  can I possible make a QSO on total random as 
> a "small gun" to a "small gun" , if I do not hear 
> the JT signal in the speaker  and not see any on 
> waterfall  (it is possible to make sked-QSO in 
> such circumstances). On 1296 I have called randomly 
> JT CQ:s for many hours without success.
> 
> 73 Sven SM5LE

Of course it is always nice to be loud.  Then we get more answers to our 
CQs.

On the other hand, for one reason or another many of us cannot (or 
choose not to) produce really big EME signals.  We operate in populated 
neighborhoods, we use legal power levels with no special permissions, 
our antennas must be smaller, etc., etc.

However, I don't think I have ever seen a JT65 decode for which the 
signal was not visible on the SpecJT waterfall.  Indeed, this should be 
impossible if the waterfall speed and color-scale settings are adjusted 
for the most sensitive performance.

What waterfall speed setting do you normally use?  It's best to use the 
slowest one, Speed=1, if you will be looking for the weakest signals. 
You might also want to play with the brightness and contrast controls, 
using a very marginal signal as a test case.

If you find an example of an "invisible" signal that decodes, I would be 
interested to examine a copy of the wave file.

With the MAP65 program, making totally random QSOs is relatively easy, 
even with very weak signals.  I realize that many do not (yet) use 
something like MAP65, but if there were an agreed-upon "QRP calling 
frequency" (or a small range of frequencies) on each band, even the 
basic WSJT program can do most of the same things and small stations 
should be able to find each other without pre-arrangement.

     -- 73, Joe, K1JT