We have done this every year I have been involved with my club’s Field Day and have had mostly good results. We usually have one Boy Scout troop stop by and make a few QSOs each. Also some technicians in our club like to operate the station during the late hours to get a chance to do SSB HF (yes we always have a control operator with valid privileges). Also it seems every year a new ham really enjoys the simplicity of the GOTA station without the concern over band sharing the other stations deal with.

Every year our GOTA is set up pretty much the same…

• Icom 746
• HF Antenna – Wire Dipole
• Microphone
• Key
• Computer for logging
• and that’s about it

Last year I posted observations about what the youth seem to enjoy most about our Field Day 2008…

For all our GOTA station offered, it was the Digital operations in one of the regular Field Day stations that really caught their eye. Like I mention in the post, they seem to think of it much like the texting they do with their cell phones.

Give the people what they want…

This year our GOTA station will include the following additional components…

• Computer-Radio Interface – The Navigator from US Interface
• A proper interface cable from the interface to the Icom 746
• A very nice Begali two paddle morse code key
• MixW Software (and maybe Digipan)
• A powered USB port splitter to ensure the Navigator gets all the power it needs since the laptop USB port is sometimes weak

To put it another way, we are outfitting the GOTA tent with serious gear and features to ensure any and all possible modes including the many digital modes can and will be demonstrated.

We intend to capitalize on the similarity between our amateur radio digital modes and texting to draw some interest towards licensing.

My advice to you is to spiff up your GOTA station with better gear and prominently feature PSK31 and RTTY during the demonstration.

GL

You have gone the next step and know you need to, somehow, connect your computer soundcard with your radio’s speaker and microphone.

Many devices exist to help you do just that including US Interface, BuxComm, SignaLink, etc. I have my eyes set on the US Interface Navigator product to be my sound interface plus mop up a WinKey CW Keyer and rig control (CAT) in one box entirely powered by the USB port. Nice.

However, I am enjoying the digital modes today with absolutely no interface. How?

Simple.

I was given a small computer microphone. This one is the type that is meant to sit on the table and pick up conversations nearby. I have it sitting directly over the speaker hole of my Icom 746. I fire up my MixW and easily decode the PSK31 signals in the waterfall.

What about transmitting?

That’s a little less polished, but functional. All I did was take the voice microphone off its stand and lay it next to my laptop. The computer’s internal speakers provide more than enough sound to send a PSK31 signal literally over the air in the shack to the microphone and out the radio. In fact, I had to turn the audio gain of the transceiver down a bit to make sure I was not over-driving the modulation.

I use my foot-switch to put the rig into transmit and then tell the software to begin sending PSK31.

From Virginia I have made easy contacts with Mexico, Kansas and Indiana using PSK31 in just two nights.

So if you are saving your money for a built interface or collecting ideas for a home-brew approach, GREAT, but go ahead and get on the air now using your rig’s microphone (TX) and a cheap computer microphone (RX). Remember to keep the transmitted audio levels lower than you think are needed. If you don’t you will splatter your signal all over the PSK range.

I am quite surprised how sturdy PSK31 is to make a trip in the air of my shack, but it works remarkably well.

Coordinating the foot-switch with the computer program transmission is getting old quick, but for the low price it buys you time and gets you into digital modes today.

Teenager and a younger boy sharing PSK31 contacts on an HF station.

The older of the two in the picture above said this when he made his first PSK31 contact just after midnight during Field Day…

“Hmmm I like this.”

Nothing like brevity from a teen eh? Anyway this young man went on to pound out contact after contact entirely by PSK31. It seems clear the attraction is, at least partly, due to the similarity to Cell Phone Text Messaging… without the 10 cent charges.

After I carefully explained to the teen he needs a general ticket (he just got his Tech) to make use of digital modes in the HF bands, he said he will pursue it now just for PSK31. Upgrade incentive from a digital mode? Who knew?

The ham radio community is well advised to take note of the above and focus attention to the digital modes during your next opportunity to Elmer young folks.