RTTY versus PSK31. The dilemma.
I enjoy digimodes, also known as digital or data modes. Although I only use RTTY and PSK, the term ‘digimodes’ also encompasses such things as Amtor, Pactor, G-TOR, PactorII, Clover, Olivia, Packet, Hellschreiber, MT63, Throb and MFSK16. There are others!
Some of these data modes have been around for a long time, RTTY being one such mode. Others, such as PSK31 are newer and have only recently gained in popularity. And therein lies the dilemma. PSK31 is now so popular that the parts of the band where this activity is found, especially on 20m around 14.070MHz, are becoming very crowded. RTTY on the other hand is, on the face of it, much less popular, attributed in part to it being seen as somehow more difficult to setup and use than PSK modes.
My problem then is this: As much as I enjoy RTTY there can at times be little or no activity heard on the bands between contests (major RTTY contests do, thank goodness, still bring out many of the RTTY enthusiasts). PSK31 on the other hand is pretty much always to be found on 20m if nowhere else. The problem is that I don’t find it anywhere near as much fun now as I did a few years ago when I first discovered PSK (in September 2005) and when I worked a lot of nice DX using the mode.
I do keep saying to myself I should invest more time in PSK31 DXing and get back to enjoying it as much as I used to. Maybe now is the right time to finally commit to that. I can then use RTTY as and when the activity pops up on the bands.