Getting My Feet Wet With PSK

I had my first experience with PSK back in March of this year during a quick QSO with AB9VJ. It wasn't great. PSK takes a little more setup than most would expect. I had just received a new Signalink USB interface and that was all setup, luckily. Unfortunately, I had not considered setting up all the macros in Ham Radio Deluxe. It was all new to me and I just wanted to try it out.

A waterfall display depicting several PSK31 transmissions.

After that first QSO, it would be another 8 months before I would try digital again. Just last month, when I was home for Thanksgiving, I decided to give it another shot. I familiarized myself with the program again and I was on my way. I made over 50 contacts that weekend on PSK31. That would include close to 20 different DXCCs. I think once that an operator has PSK setup and configured, it is a very satisfying mode. It's very fast-paced and you can have a number of contacts in just a few minutes. This will probably be the mode that takes me to DXCC and WAS.