With the BARTG HF RTTY Contest coming up March 21-23, 2026 and ARRL RTTY Roundup January 4-5, I'm finally taking the plunge into RTTY contesting after years of FT8. Currently running an IC-7610 and looking at interface options.

I've been reading about the 2-TONE decoder being much more sensitive than MMTTY for AFSK operation. My question: for serious contesting, should I invest in a hardware FSK interface, or are modern AFSK solutions like 2-TONE competitive enough? I'm particularly interested in weak signal copy during contests when the bands get crowded.

Also considering DXLog for contest logging with its real-time logging and automatic dupe checking - anyone have experience with this combo? I've been using N1MM+ for phone contests but want to optimize my digital setup.

Stick with AFSK and 2-TONE for now - the performance difference is negligible in modern rigs, and AFSK is much simpler to set up. I've won several state categories using nothing but AFSK with N1MM+ and 2-TONE. Focus on operating technique and proper filtering first.

Your IC-7610 has excellent RTTY DSP processing, so AFSK will work great. Make sure you understand the NET and AFC settings in MMTTY - AFC is useful when CQing to track off-frequency callers, but turn it off when S&P to stay exactly on frequency. Also set your power to about 80W if entering 100W class - RTTY is 100% duty cycle!

Started with MMTTY/N1MM+ last year and placed in top 10 in my section. The learning curve is steeper than FT8, but practice tuning in stations during contests before transmitting really helped. Don't forget to turn off RIT - being exactly on frequency matters much more in RTTY than other modes.