As Leigh points out:
> The trouble is that there REALLY ARE MULTIPLE CUT NUMBERS SYSTEMS,
> so only use cut numbers where context can resolve the meaning of
> what you are sending.
This is the biggest problem when you go beyond the standard "N" and "T"
and the somewhat newer standard of "E" for 5.
Another aspect of this discussion that I don't believe has come out yet
is how sending an exchange that is shorter might affect you ability to
attract new stations.
For a moment, let's assume your rate isn't 200 an hour, and you are having
to do a little of of CQing from time to time to get people to answer you.
I think it is important to recognize that even when you are just coming
back to someone - or finishing the QSO, you are making transmissions that
might be heard by someone tuning the band. As the person tunes in, they
need to "sync up" with what is going on - with the intention of determing
if they should try to work you.
Your ability to lure stations in is a function of how potent your presence
is on the band. This potentcy is essentially the product of how strong
you are and how much transmitting you do. When I say "how strong", I am
talking about the energy your transmitter is producing - which essentially
is measured by looking at a wattmeter with a slow enough time constant
to show average power while sending CW.
True - sending dahs does take some extra time, but it also increases the
amount of energy you are putting into the band over time (because the
duty cycle of dahs is higher than dits). This would help make your
signal harder to miss when someone is tuning by.
Sometimes people complain about me sending "73" when I am finishing a
QSL in the SS - but aside from this being a nice thing to say to someone,
it acts as a "mini CQ" - since "73" has a good presence - and if someone
tuning the band hears this - they instantly know what is coming next and
they should get ready to call me.
I think it is also important to recognize that there are some number of guys
who really don't like hearing a report that is hard to understand and might
"vote with their feet" not to bother calling you. Not everyone you work in
the contest is bent on having the best score. A large percentage of your
QSOs are guys who are "just handing out some QSOs" and they really don't care
that much if they work you or not.
This is probably even more important of an issue on SSB, where having a poor
sounding signal is like "bad breath" and will drive people away.
Just my two cents on this.
73 Tree N6TR
tree@kkn.net
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