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tion, the other station will "turn it over" to you so you can send data to him, Normally the other
station will make some kind of statement in the message to indicate that he is going to let you
talk. For instance, he might say SO HOW COPY?. The other station then types a +? which is trans-
mitted to you. When the KAM Plus receives the +?, it is displayed on your screen and you become
the ISS. You now type on your keyboard, and this data is sent to the other station. When you want
the other station to again talk to you, type the +? on your keyboard. The +? is the "changeover
sequence" in AMTOR. Whenever the IRS receives this sequence, a changeover occurs, allowing the
other person to begin talking.
At the end of the QSO one of the two stations must "break the link". This is equivalent to hanging
up a phone at the end of a conversation. To break the link with your KAM Plus, type [Ctrl-C][D];
the KAM Plus will then send the AMTOR shutdown sequence to the other station, and both stations
will stop transmitting. Common practice among operators is that the ISS station sends a short
message indicating that he is going to break the link. Usually it is something like Link Down - SK.
Answering a CQ
While you are in the AMTOR Standby mode, you may see another station calling CQ and you want
to call that station. You must know the station's SELCAL, and this information is normally sent in
the CQ message. In the example above, the station's SELCAL is WWKM. If you want to call this
station, you must first leave the AMTOR Standby mode and get the command prompt (cmd:) from
your KAM Plus. To do this type [Ctrl-C][X].
From the command prompt, type AMTOR WWKM and press return. Your KAM Plus begins sending
the link request to the other station, and, after receiving the proper acknowledgments, the mes-
sage <LINKED TO WWKM> will appear on your screen. You are now the ISS and may begin typing
your message to be transmitted.
From this point on, you switch back and forth from sending station to receiving station with the
changeovers as described above in "Calling CQ." When the conversation is finished, you or the sta-
tion you are talking to must break the link. If you want to break the link type [Ctrl-C][D].
While you are linked to another station and receiving data from him, you may want to interrupt
and make a comment of your own. To do this, you must first "seize" the link, making your station
the ISS. To do this type [Ctrl-C][T]. When you are finished with your comment, use the normal +?
changeover sequence to again become the IRS.
Mode B (FEC) Operation
To operate Mode B AMTOR, you must first be in the Command Mode (cmd:). Type FEC and press
return. This places the KAM Plus in the FEC Mode without sending any message to your terminal.
In this mode you can receive any FEC transmissions made by another station or transmit FEC from
your station. Since FEC can be copied by several stations at the same time, you would use this
mode to have a conversation with numerous stations at the same time (a round-table discussion).
NOTE: If AUTOSTRT is ON you will only monitor SELFEC transmission from other stations that con-
tain your SELCAL in the transmission.
To transmit Mode B type [Ctrl-C][T]. This keys your radio, the bargraph on the KAM Plus goes
dark, and the red HF transmit LED lights. Type the message you want to send. At the conclusion of
your message type [Ctrl-C][E]. Your KAM Plus will transmit your message in FEC mode and return
to the receive mode when all of the data has been transmitted.
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