I found the TS-830S manual here:

http://www.n6wk.com/kenwood/TS-830S_Instruction_manual.pdf

The microphone impedance spec:  500 ohms - 50 kOhms.

So just about any mic will work OK.  Good design!

.           Charles

PS -- the MC-50 mic has a dual-impedance transformer -- also good design.

Now I'm confused - - the HC5 is a low-impedance mic.

Is the TS-830 mic preamp solid-state (in which case it probably wants a low-impedance mic), or vacuum-tube (in which case, it probably wants a high-impedance mic) ?

Just wondering . . .

.             Charles

Three comments:

1.  Usually, stucco is laid-up on a metal-mesh lath.   So the whole outside of the building acts as a ground plane.   If you feed the downspouts, and they're close to a wall, they'll be close (inches) to a "ground", and may not be very effective as antennas.   [I'm not saying "Don't do it"; I'm saying "Don't depend on it."]

2.  The bugbear of "rain-gutter" antennas is imperfect joints between sections of downspout.  They're held together with screws, which tend to rust.  That's a recipe for "rectifying contacts", which lead to dirty signals (on the bands) and RFI (off the bands).

3.  When I was in your situation, I used a long fiberglass pole (Jackite "Windsock pole").  I taped a wire to it, and stuck it out from the balcony, at about a 30 degree angle from horizontal.  "Ground" was the metal railing around the balcony.   My autotuner was my best friend.

It wasn't perfect, but it worked decently for digital modes and CW on 20 meters.  It was _way_ better than a Hamstick.

.                  Charles

The EmComm community is starting to adopt D-Star with a digital messaging layer called "D-RATS".  A Google of

D-RATS Emcomm

will get you started.

.             Charles

Check for RTTY contests here:

http://www.arrl.org/contest-calendar

Go to the "Contest Corral" files.

RTTY -- old and clunky as it is -- is a really good contesting mode.  The RTTY contests bring out the Big Guns, along with us pipsqueak 100-watt stations.

.            Charles

A suggestion:

. . . Submit this to the "Articles" editor.  It's good, and it's just hiding in the dark, here.

The _large_ audience for D-Star isn't the people who are already committed to digital modes (which is most of the readers of this sub-forum).  It's the "great unwashed hordes" who are using analog FM.

.                   Charles

Try here:

http://homepage.ntlworld.com/wadei/TS-590S_HOWTO_digital_quickstart_v1.4.pdf

If you use "audio FSK" (see AA5AU's website), RTTY is "just another soundcard mode".  That makes things _really_ simple:

. . . All you need is software, and a USB cable from the TS-590S to your PC.

.               Charles

Usually, in the situation you describe, the problem is high levels of local RF noise.   So:

. . . What kind of antenna are you using?

. . . Where is it located?  Relative to buildings, and relative to your rig.

. . . What kind of electrical equipment is around it?

.               Charles

PS -- if you have any LED lights, and they run off low-voltage power supplies, look there first.

OOps --

I don't know if that Casio sustain pedal is "normally open" or "normally closed" !

This M-Audio pedal (another music-store item) is similar, and can be set either way (you want "normally open" for a PTT switch):

http://www.m-audio.com/products/en_us/SP1.html

.          Charles

On PTT:

You have two options:

1.  VOX -- which is tempting, until you realize that the first syllable of every phrase will be distorted.  I didn't want to believe that, only realized the truth after monitoring my own signal.

2.  hand switch, or foot switch.

The most elegant foot switch (IMHO) is a small digital-piano sustain pedal, like this:

http://www.amazon.com/Casio-SP-3R-Sustain-Pedal-Keyboards/dp/B000792SBS

Similar units will be in your local music store, filed under "Guitar Stomp Box -- SPST".  Or you can improvise something from a Staples "That was easy!" button -- pull out the electronics, keep the switch.  [That was written-up in QST a while ago.]

Hand switches can be an SPST pushbutton, mounted in a piece of PVC pipe for easy holding and thumb operation.  Bob Heil makes one labelled "ergonomic" with a fancier handle.

Using "non-ham" gear, for ham radio, is perfectly acceptable.   My headphones are Sennheiser HD280 ("studio monitor" phones), my mic is an Audio Technica cardioid dynamic vocal mic.   My compressor/EQ (rarely used) is from Behringer, not W2IHY.  They all work fine with a Yaesu FT-450.

.                  Charles

Yes, you'll need an adapter of some kind.   The CM500 comes with "computer-standard" 1/8" phone plugs.

In the eHam.net reviews for the CM500:

http://www.eham.net/reviews/detail/7494

there's somebody with a Yaesu rig who bought an adapter from W2ENY.   The review is about the 5th one from the top.  You may find other suggestions in those reviews.

.             Charles

PS -- there's even a YouTube video --

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WZo9GDTKDWA

In case you're not confused yet, try this:

1. Set up fldigi and your rig to do PSK31.   Make a few QSO's in that mode.

2. Now, _without touching anything on the rig_, change the MODE in fldigi to "MCW".

3. Move the rig's frequency to a CW band segment.

What you type will now be transmitted as CW, instead of PSK31.   And responses should appear on the waterfall, and be decoded by fldigi.

4.  Once you have this working, you can raise the TX audio drive (from the SignaLink) until the rig's ALC meter just starts to move.  Then turn it down just a little bit.  That's your maximum undistorted power.

.             Charles

250 Hz is as narrow as you should go.  It should be OK.

I have an IC-706 with a 350-Hz filter (sold as "RTTY / CW" filter).  It works quite well, no ringing at all.  That would be a good filter for the IC-718, if you can get one.

The choice of filter bandwidth is personal and subjective.  So ultimately, you buy something and live with it for a while.

.               Charles
   

Here's a bet:

. . . If you transmit 100 watts from a long-wire (random-length) antenna inside your apartment,
. . . both you and your neighbors are going to get RFI.

Alarm systems, especially, tend to pick up RF.  So do remote TV loudspeakers-- e.g. "5+1" surround-sound gear.

Now, if they don't know you've got a rig (A GOOD IDEA!), they won't know whom to blame.  But the effects will be there.

Using an unbalanced antenna close to the rig almost guarantees "RF in the shack".   And much of that RF will appear on the AC power lines.

I would urge you to use a dipole, instead.  If you have wood siding, string it up at the edges of the ceiling.  Don't be afraid to bend the wires.

.             Charles

PS -- with an attic antenna (Alpha-Delta DX-CC or DX-EE).

People who get Tigetronic's "SignaLink USB" interfaces seem to have less trouble, on average, than buyers of others.  It's $100 (with cable), but it solves some problems very neatly.

In your place, I'd phone Tigertronics, and find out if they have experience with handi-talkie interfaces.  They have lots of available adapters -- maybe one for your HT.   That saves a lot of trouble.

There's probably a "plain wire" cable as well -- the SignaLink on one end, and four wires (or more) on the other. 

To use that with my Yaesu VX-170, you'd need an adapter (from Yaesu, or others) that brings the HT's 4-contact phone jack out into three, 2-contact phone jacks:

.     speaker / headphone ;

.     mic (which might have bias on it, which would need to have a blocking capacitor);

.     PTT

Connecting those three jacks to a SignaLink would give you what you want.

.             Charles