[3830] SARTG K7IA/5 SOAB HP

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                    SARTG WW RTTY Contest

Call: K7IA/5
Operator(s): K7IA/5
Station: K7IA/5

Class: SOAB HP
QTH: NM
Operating Time (hrs): 7:06

Summary:
 Band  QSOs  Pts   Mults
-------------------------
   80:                 
   40:   65   670    25
   20:  156  1640    32
   15:   39   465    30
   10:                 
-------------------------
Total:  260  2775    87  Total Score = 241,425

Club: Arizona Outlaws Contest Club

Comments:

Last year's event was my personal best, and I did it without the antenna farm I
have now.  This year's result is less than half of last year's.  Propagation
played a big role--10m was empty, 15m was sparse until Sunday AM, and 40m was
noisy.  I didn't even look at 80m.

SW New Mexico's monsoon season, which typically begins on or about 4 July, may
have begun three days ago, when the frequent T-storms of late actually produced
some nice rainfall.  A lightning stroke that started a forest fire about eight
miles from our QTH last week was all but quenched in the last two days.  But
the electrical activity knocked me off the air many times this weekend.

SARTG is a "civilized" event, covering the 24 hour propagation clock in three 8
hour sessions, so I've been looking forward to it.  Unfortunately, a growing
percentage of RTTY contesters have little clue of Baudot RTTY and how it
differs from the other digi modes, owing mostly to the differences between
5-level and 8-level encoding of letters, numerals, and punctuation and to the
absence of error correction and resultant garbles.  A character sent is not
necessarily the same character received, especially when condx are poor and the
recipient is obviously struggling to obtain accurate copy.  Here are a few
things that can help streamline exchanges in a RTTY contest:

1.  Try to zero beat the Running Station's frequency--crowded band condx mean
tight passband tuning widths--if you're too far from zero beat, then you only
add to the QRM

2.  Learn the difference between the Running station and the Search and Pounce
station and who sends what and in which order

3.  To facilitate visual clarity in the receive window, begin and end every 
string you send with a CRLF (which places your transmission on a single line of
print).  RTTY no longer consumes paper, and video display is cheap!

4.  To improve visual clarity, sandwich every line you send between two space
characters.  This will:
  a)  separate the first printing character of a line from the nearly
inevitable garble that appears in the left hand margin
  b)  allow the recipient to visualize your callsign, especially if you send
your callsign only once (it's better to send it twice in good conditions and
three times in bad conditions)
  c)  allow contest loggers (like N1MM) that parse callsigns to do so (garbles
or non space-sandwiched callsigns are not easily parsed by software, so the
other op has to do it manually, taking time, or to ask for a repeat, again
taking time)

5.  Put only useful information into your exchange strings.  The most useful
information is the required exchange itself, and for the SARTG, it is RST plus
Serial Number.  If you are the S&P operator, it is good form, and a good idea,
to include your callsign, because:
  a) the Running op may have received your callsign only when you first called,
and there may be garbles that he wishes to correct
  b) there may be others on frequency who are transmitting at the same time you
are, causing QRM and garbles (yes, many ops just don't know when to wait)
  c)  it may often eliminate the need to request repeats

6.  When you send your exchange DO NOT send the other guy's callsign twice! 
When I'm the Running op, nearly half of the exchanges I receive appear like
this:

            "K7IA TU 599 123 123 K7IA"

I already know my own callisign!  What I want to confirm is YOUR callsign!  A
better format is:

            "K7IA TU 599 123 123 WA1QQQ"  (if you are "WA1QQQ"

That format lets me know who you are transmitting to and who you are.  It may
also be the tiebreaker I need, if I earlier got your callsign twice, but one of
them was garbled by QRM, QRN, etc.  (which one was garbled, I want to know). 
The Supercheck Partial database is very complete, but it doesn't include all
possible contest entrants.  Any callsign that I receive that isn't in the SCP
datafile is suspected as a garble, unless I receive at least one match during
good conditions.  If I'm in doubt, I push my macro key to send "PSE CFM CALL"

7.  As a Running station, I include your callsign at the beginning of my
exchange to you.  Please look at the callsign I send, because it might be in
error (garbles again).  This has two ramifications:
  a)  If I log an incorrect callsign, I pay a penalty by the contest sponsor's
log checking process (i.e., I lose contest points because of a "busted"
callsign)
  b)  You won't be in my log, so if you wish my QSL (card or LOTW) you won't
get one.  I get a fair number of card requests from chaps who aren't in my log,
and all I can do is return their cards, stating they are NIL (not in log). 
 
8.  If you are the S&P op, and you don't think you have my exchange correctly,
then you can do any of the following:
  a)  ask me to repeat my exchange--don't send your exchange until you are
satisfied with mine
  b)  wait until I work the next chap, deduct one from the serial number I
send, and log it, etc.
  c)  work me again--I work all dupes!  I figure that anyone who calls me a
second time has made a callsign typo in his log, making ME the chap who isn't
in HIS log at log checking time, so of course I want to work him again.  Yes,
there are a lot of guys who send "B4" or "DUPE," but they are ignorant of the
fact that since electronic log filing is now the norm (Cabrillo) there is no
penalty for dupes.  If they won't work me a "second" time, then they pay the
penalty in log checking and not me, unless of course I've worked them before
and have made a typo.
  d)  please do not send to me an email after the contest that asks me to
clarify what I sent to you during the contest--a radio message should be
considered time sensitive, just as it was in the days of the HMS Titanic

9.  If you are the S&P station, your job is not finished after you send your
exchange--you must stay on frequency to see if the Running station indicates
his "roger" for your exchange in some way.  The most common "roger" in CW and
RTTY is a simple "TU."  It's surprising how many S&P ops immediately move off
frequency after sending their exchanges--the only way I know that is because
there are garbles in serial number(s), and when I ask for "NR" again, the lid
is gone.  I do not log those QSOs!
9.  So much for the important parts of the exchange:  callsigns and required
exchange.  The rest that is commonly sent is nonessential and only increases
the risk of garbles (it takes only one dropped or added bit to produce a
garble).  So omit the following:
  a)  sending the Running station's callsign more than once during the
exchange
  b)  needless prosigns like "KN" which means "go ahead specific station."  If
you've sent the other op's callsign, then you've already been specific. 
Besides, when your RTTY mark tone (or diddle) drops out, it's obvious that you
aren't transmitting any more.
  c)  line terminators like "QSL?" and "PSE" and other insertions like the
other op's name (I already know mine), etc.  They just waste time--remember,
the job of the Running Op is to service his S&Pers quickly, accurately, and
efficiently and to minimize the time the S&P ops on frequency have to wait. 
You can help in this regard.
  d)  "DE"  Experienced contesters, who are well familiar with the rhythm of
alternating exchanges know who's who.

10.  Dig into the websites that overview and explain how Baudot RTTY came
about.  I'm certain you will find fascinating how the mechanical geniuses
developed the first teleprinting/sending machines and how unlike they were/are
from PSK, etc.  Computerized Baudot RTTY emulates those mechanical machines in
all respects but two--we are spared the necessity of sending a Line Feed
keystroke after every Carriage Return, and we don't have to press either the
FIGS or LTRS keys any more.  I'll leave it to you to find out why...

Questions or comments?  Drop me a note.  The above will be the nucleus of a
primer for RTTY contesting in the hope of Elmering those who have no Elmers.
Your thoughts will help all of us!

Thanks for reading this far...

73, Dan k7ia


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