The NFARES group has been testing fldigi for their digital mode and it is working great. It permits an easy way to exchange digital messages. The mode being used is MT63/1000. Here is the good news - it works very well acoustically coupled - in other words, you do not have to have a digital interface such as Signal-Link. Just use a pair of computer headphones with microphone (sometimes referred to a "computer headset"). Plug them into the sound card on your computer, put the microphone next to your rig (usually 147.06), turn on fldigi and copy away! You can even use the mic in your laptop if you can get it near the speaker on your 2M radio.

To play, go to http://w1hkj.com and download these three programs - fligi/flarq, flwrap, and flmsg. Load all these into your computer and you're almost ready to go. You'll have to set the op mode to MT63/1000 and you should see some "noise" in the waterfall. When someone sends a message, the software should copy it.

So get ready, download the software, tune into the Sunday night net to get your questions answered and just have "digital" fun. There's more to it but this should get you started. Questions: w4uoc@nfarl.org, ad4mc@nfarl.org and w4qo@nfarl.org