EIGHT SLICE RTTY CONTESTING WINDOWS COMPUTER NEEDS

Rich C

EIGHT SLICE RTTY CONTESTING WINDOWS COMPUTER NEEDS

 With my Flexradio 6700 I am hoping to be able to monitor with the use of Spectrum / Waterfall Displays and decode eight RTTY frequency locations simultaneously. Running Eight issues of MMTTY to decode the RTTY signals. My contest category will be SO2R/Assisted so Cluster Spot decoding will also be taking place. The contest logging program will be N1MM. Antenna selection with the Flexradio Antenna Genius will be controlled by me not the radio using computer software for a couple of  KMTronic USB 8 Relay Units. Of course computer control of the radio will be taking place with Smart SDR software. Antenna Rotor control is easy with another KMTronic USB 8 Relay Unit and computer software but having a direction indicator still needs to be worked out. I’m using TIC Ring Rotors and a HyGain Ham M Rotor. Antenna direction indication information is a simple variable resister ohmic reading.

 FT8/FT4 OPERATION

Operating FT8/FT4 becomes a little more complicated as transmit timing becomes an issue. That being said it would be nice to be able to at least monitor eight frequency locations simultaneously. This would be a combination of FT8 and FT4 with an issue of WSJT-X for each slice.

 EQUIPMENT LOCATION

Taking advantage of the FlexRadio System I intend to locate all the equipment in my garage which is located next to my tower. Of course inside an envirmently friendly cabinet. Control of the equipment will be done via the home LAN system. The thought is to place a computer inside this cabinet connected via an Ethernet switch to the radio and internet.  Direct USB connection to the computer for two KMTronic USB 8 Relay units. A monitor, keyboard and mouse will also be connected to the computer for local access to the system.

 OPERATING POSISTION 

During serious RTTY Contesting I have an area located within the house for long time in the chair stays. My Flexradio 6700 offering Eight Slices will need allot of monitor screen room. My thinking is to use two very large 4K TVs as monitors unless I am advised to use something else. In any case another computer will be needed my thinking with a serious video card. For Non Contest operation from my couch, pool or across town my thinking is an I7 laptop computer and possibly a Maestro. Doing RTTY off a laptop screen is not expected to be enjoyable but CW, Phone or FT8/4 should be. 

 HOME NETWORK

I currently have a Netgear Nighthawk router. With all the data being sent I’m thinking new network equipment. I will run an Ethernet cable thinking CAT6 from the garage to the serious contesting location. Operation from the couch or pool will be WiFi. ANY EQUIPMENT SUGGESTIONS. Internet service will be Fronter with an ethernet cable connection. 

 IN CONCLUSION

So how many computers am I up to. 

One being located with the equipment in the garage

One located by the serious RTTY contest location.

I7 Laptop with a Maestro for remote operation.

 I’m thinking Mini Computers for their side. I’ve seen these units on Ebay:

GEEKOM Desktop Computer Mini PC, Intel Core i9-12900H, 32 GB RAM, 1 TB SSD Hard Drive, Windows 11 Pro.

Portable WiFi 6 Mini PC Windows 11 Intel Core i9 Desktop Pc, WiFi 6 Mini PC Windows 11 Intel Core i9 8950HK, 16GB DDR4 1TB SSD hard drive.

 Well that’s about it.

Rich C

AA2MF