The first, and most important, step before operating any station is making sure to tune the transmitter. This will prevent damage to the transmitter and guard against messy, distorted signals. most PSK31 software packages have a testing / tuning feature for this purpose.

Another thing to watch is the ALS (automatic leveling control) meter on the radio. Adjust the audio level until the ALS meter most always reads at 0. If the audio level is too high, the ALC controls in the transmitter will kick in, and the result will be a distorted PSK31 signal.

Next, tune your radio to a common PSK31 frequency; two are 7.070 MHz and 14.070 MHz (see a full list of PSK31 Frequencies). Make sure your radio is set to SSB mode on the upper sideband (USB). Your will not have to change frequencies after that, since PSK31 signals are so narrow (31 Hz), all the transmissions will be picked up by the receiver without changing frequencies. It is then up to the software, not the radio, what signal(s) to decode.

Fire up your favorite your favorite PSK31 software. Most packages will have a "waterfall" display where you will see all the signals from the receiver. If all station setup is correct, you will see something like this:

PSK31 Signal

In most software packages, you can click on or move a marker to a signal to begin decoding the transmission.

Conversation

The first transmission is usually a CQ call. This is similar to CW, like this:

CQ CQ CQ de KD5TEN KD5TEN KD5TEN
CQ CQ CQ de KD5TEN KD5TEN KD5TEN K

This basically means that KD5TEN (myself) is calling for someone to contact. The "K" a the end of the transmission means "over," signifing that the other station may begin transmission. Typically, the next transmission would be something like this:

KD5TEN KD5TEN KD5TEN de OTHERCALL OTHERCALL OTHERCALL
KD5TEN KD5TEN KD5TEN de OTHERCALL OTHERCALL OTHERCALL pse K

After that, the conversation proceeds with the station transmitting back and forth following this format:

OTHERCALL de MYCALL Hi there! (rest of message) BTU OTHERCALL de MYCALL k

The "BTU" stands for "back to you" and is optional.

Finally, at the end of the conversation, both stations end their last with "sk" instead of "k" to signify the end ("sk" stands for silent key).