Some of you may do this already, but for those who don't, perhaps it may be of
benefit.
As soon as the new custom mounts are done for my revamped X-KEYS setup on the
Ergonomic keyboard, I am definitely adding a separate key that will auto-append
a "?" to any partial letter callsign (as an optional method) and then send the
exchange. With my big hands, I keep fumbling around too much to press the SHIFT
key plus the "?" at the same time to plug this into the callsign window ;-(
Some times, of course, I do not add the "?" but just send the partial call.
The fewer letters I've copied, the more I tend to want to add the "?". I
believe most loggers allow for multi-key assignments to a Macro key.
In the brief times I was QRV in the ARRL 160m Contest, I had some real bizzare
moments that normally don't happen to frequently.
Those being, 2, 3, 4 or more stations calling dead-zero beat with each other at
just about the same signal strength. I'd generally end up only being able to
get the last 2 letters of the slowest caller at the end (or use only 1 letter
if that's all I could copy when the dust settled), *try* to add the "?" and
then send the exchange to eliminate another back & forth. Umh, there were some
QLF moments on the keyboard lnd a few delays when I couldn't enter the "?" fast
enough ;-(
Most ops were pretty sharp & just corrected their callsigns (if I copied wrong
or mis-typed letters), and/or filled in the missing letters or number. Tnx,
guys, for your patience!
Yup, ONE key to multi-task this type of situation in the future should make
things flow more smoothly at times, and I hope it may work for you too.
FYI & 73...
RIck, K6VVA
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