Editing Radioteletype (section)

== Comparison with other modes ==
RTTY has a typical [[baud|baud rate]] for Amateur operation of 45.45 baud (approximately 60 words per minute). It remains popular as a "keyboard to keyboard" mode in Amateur Radio.<ref name="ARRL Handbook">American Radio Relay League, The ARRL Handbook for Radio Communications, 87th ed., 2010, Chapter 16</ref>  RTTY has declined in commercial popularity as faster, more reliable alternative data modes have become available, using satellite or other connections.

For its transmission speed, RTTY has low [[spectral efficiency]]. The typical RTTY signal with 170&nbsp;Hz shift at 45.45 baud requires around 250&nbsp;Hz receiver bandwidth, more than double that required by [[PSK31]]. In theory, at this baud rate, the shift size can be decreased to 22.725&nbsp;Hz, reducing the overall band footprint substantially. Because RTTY, using either [[AFSK]] or [[Frequency-shift keying|FSK]] modulation, produces a waveform with constant power, a transmitter does not need to use a [[linear amplifier]], which is required for many digital transmission modes. A more efficient [[Class C amplifier]] may be used.

RTTY, using either AFSK or FSK modulation, is moderately resistant to vagaries of HF propagation and interference, however modern digital modes, such as [[Multiple frequency-shift keying|MFSK]], use [[Forward Error Correction]] to provide much better data reliability.