On Tue, 17 Feb 2009 11:11:03 -0700, "W0MU Mike Fatchett"
<w0mu@w0mu.com> wrote:
> Some people strung together the report and sn which
> was a pain 599005599005.
>
> What is the current feeling on 599 002-002 with the dash?
IMHO, a dash in between numbers is not bad. Others may not like the
esthetics.
A dash in between letters is not so good, "599 AZ-AZ" takes one extra
FIGS and one extra LTRS to send.
More letters = slower + more likely for errors to obscure the
message. Remember that an unshifted "-" can be confused with the
character "A".
As to stringing numbers together, it can save more than just the
space characters. If you run USOS, spaces also involves extra
<FIGS>. I.e., if you have USOS turned on and you are sending spaces
between numbers, e.g.., "599 001 001", you also have to send FIGS
after the spaces, i.e.,
599<space><FIGS>001<space><FIGS>001
instead of 599001001
In spite of the transmission savings, sending the latter might get
more pins stuck in your voodoo doll, though :-).
599-001-001 is a decent compromise, IMO, if you are have USOS turned on.
I don't think there is any set "rule." You need to craft your
exchanges to what you are actually sending. If you are USA/Canada in
the RTTY Roundup, spaces are really good if both people use USOS and
spaces are really bad if the sender uses USOS and the receiver does
not. I.e., if I use "weak" USOS and the receiver does not use USOS,
I will send
599 OR OR (notice that because of USOS, I don't need to send the
LTRS after the 599)
But some person who receives with USOS turned off will print the
above as
599 94 94
(this is because the space character appears in both LTRS and FIGS
encodings).
Some programs have facilities to transmit what I ad-hoc-ly call
"strong" USOS. I.e., you always transmit a <LTRS> after a space if a
number does not follow.
That is why when you are sending a state/province exchange, it is
worth having a secondary macro that says something like 599-OR-OR.
It is slower, but can be useful for the occasions when you get AGN?
AGN? over and over.
If you have USOS turned off, you probably have seen
"599 OR-OR" turn up as "599 94-OR"
I.e., the print seems to correct itself! Well, that is because the
sender is using USOS and he is transmitting
599 OR<FIGS>-OR.
If you are not using USOS, the first "OR" looks like a number!
Moral of the story: use USOS only if you think the other end is
receiving with USOS. Or be prepared with the countermeasures that I
have mentioned above (e.g., send 599-OR-OR instead of 599 OR OR).
73
Chen, W7AY
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