Measure the S/N ratio of the steady carrier using the longest possible coherent measurement time (narrowest bandwidth) to obtain an average S/N. Ideally, use a similar time of day and duration to the intended messages.
Choose a code, symbol period, message length and decoder list size. Choose the constraint length K according to the capacity of your decoding computer. If you are confident of the clock accuracy of the PCs at both ends, choose a rate 1/16 code, otherwise rate 1/8 is a safer bet.
Needs bandwidth or measurement period