Over the past month the FreeDV 700C mode has been developed, integrated into the FreeDV GUI program version 1.2, and tested. Windows versions (64 and 32 bit) of this program can be downloaded from freedv.org. Thanks Richard Shaw for all your hard work on the release and installers.

FreeDV 700C uses the Codec 2 700C vocoder with the COHPSK modem. Some early results:

The US test team report 700C contacts over 2500km at SNRs down to -2dB, in conditions where SSB cannot be heard.

My own experience: the 700C speech quality is not quite as good as FreeDV 1600, but usable for conversation. That’s OK – it’s very early days for the 700C codec, and hey, it’s half the bit rate of 1600. I’m actually quite excited that 700C can be used conversationally at this early stage! I experienced a low SNR channel where FreeDV 700C didn’t work but SSB did, however 700C certainly works at much lower SNRs than 1600.

Some testers in Europe report 700C falling over at relatively high SNRs (e.g. 8dB). I also experienced this on a 1500km contact. Suspect this is a bug or corner case we can fix, especially in light of the US teams results.

Tony, K2MO, has put together this fine video demonstrating the various FreeDV modes over a simulated HF channel:

It’s early days for 700C, and there are mixed reports. However it’s looking promising. My next steps are to further explore the real world operation of FreeDV 700C, and work on improving the low SNR performance further.