Ham Amateur Radio Technician Practice Exam

Which of the following statements is true about PSK31?

1. Only lower case letters are used

2. Upper case letters use longer Varicode bit sequences and thus slow down transmission

3. It is exclusively for data transmission

4. It requires broadband access

The correct answer is: Upper case letters use longer Varicode bit sequences and thus slow down transmission

The statement regarding upper case letters using longer Varicode bit sequences and thus slowing down transmission is accurate in the context of PSK31, which is a popular digital mode for ham radio. PSK31 uses a form of encoding called Varicode, where the length of the bit sequence varies depending on the character being transmitted. In Varicode, often, upper case letters require longer sequences than lower case letters. This means that when transmitting upper case letters, each character takes longer to send compared to the shorter sequences utilized for lower case letters. Consequently, if a transmission predominantly consists of upper case letters, the overall speed of transmission can be negatively affected. Understanding the characteristics of PSK31 and how it encodes its data is crucial for operators looking to optimize their transmissions and maintain effective communication on air.