I believe he meant AFSK (audio frequency shift keying) vs FSK
(frequency
shift keying).

yes, that is what i meant. i didn't even know amplitude shift keying
existed.

am i correct about afsk being audio tones transmitted over FM, while
fsk is just alternating between two non-modulating frequencies?

jason


You are partly correct. If audio tones are fed into the microphone input
(audio stages) of an AM or FM transmitter you are generating AFSK. If an
audio tone is fed into a SSB transmitter it will generate a single output
frequency. If the tone is switched off and on , it will be received as a CW
transmitter being keyed off and on. Some newer transceivers generate CW
this way. If the tone is shifted in frequency , the output will be a
carrier shifted the same ammount. This is received the same as a FSK
transmitter. You can get the same effect if you have a crystal controled
transmiter and switch a capacitor across the crystal to change the
frequency.
There is almost no way to tell the differance between the two. If 100% pure
tones are used and everything else it 100% correct then there is no
differance in the transmitted signals. As always nothing is 100% and you
can tell the differance with very close and strong signals. This is still
close enough it does not matter.