[3830] CQ WW RTTY K7IA SOAB HP

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                    CQ Worldwide DX Contest, RTTY

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

Class: SOAB HP
QTH: NM
Operating Time (hrs): 10

Summary:
 Band  QSOs  State/Prov  DX   Zones
------------------------------------
   80:   54       28       5     6
   40:  254       39      42    12
   20:  130       36      25    10
   15:  118       32      33    18
   10:    3        0       3     3
------------------------------------
Total:  559      135     108    49  Total Score = 305,140

Club: 

Comments:

There was a time when operating RTTY was genuine fun.  Those were the days when
RTTY operators had intimate understanding of their chosen mode, knowing how
each character was generated, transmitted, received, decoded, and displayed. 
Those ops knew how atmospherics and QRN could "garble" a transmitted
character, converting it into something unintended at the receiving end.  They
knew how one could send and receive the 26 letters of the alphabet plus ten
numerals plus a host of punctuation and control characters when the 5-level
Baudot Code had only 32 unique combinations (2 raised to the 5-th power).

Those days of fun were the days of the mechanical teleprinting machines, rolled
canary yellow paper, and typewriter ribbons that were used until one could
hardly see the print.  Computer hardware and software has replaced those
wonderful machines, and the software has become so good at emulating the Baudot
Code that radioteletype operators of yesteryear have become merely appliance
operators who know little or nothing about the mode they use.  Such is the
unfortunate case of RTTY contesting today, where with only a little effort to
interface a radio with a computer and its sound card, a chap can get on the air
and make QSOs, making the false assumption that each and every character key he
presses at the transmitting end will be displayed with high fidelity on the
receiver's screen.  Further, he believes that whatever contest exchange string
he throws together is as good as any other possibility, and that some
constructs may be far less prone to garbles than the thoughtless transmissions
commonly seen.

In all of the QSOs I made in the few hours I worked this event, only about a
half dozen ops showed they had more than an "appliance" understanding
of Baudot RTTY.  It was a pleasure to work them, because their exchanges were
quick, crisp, and constructed to minimize garbles.  The bidirectional exchanges
with them took very little time, and I was confident the log checkers would find
no errors in either of our logs, at least for the QSOs we made with each other. 
These exchanges didn't always occur "in the clear," though.  Many took
place in deep pileups and with close aboard QRM from crowded band conditions.

But the QSOs with the vast majority of ops were anything but quick, easy, or,
perhaps accurate, and that removes the joy of operating a RTTY contest from me.
 Having seen this trend of "appliance contesting" grow in recent
years, I wrote a primer titled, "Contesting and RTTY," and I began
distributing it almost exactly a year ago.  It has received wonderful reviews
from amateurs worldwide and from newbies to experienced RTTY ops alike. 
Several contest clubs have posted links to it on their websites.  I would like
you to have a copy, dear reader, for it is my hope that the quality of RTTY
contesting will change course and begin to improve.  It's free, it's in .pdf
format, and it's about 40 pages packed with a little history, a description of
Baudot RTTY at the nuts and bolts level, and some RTTY contesting tips and
traps.  To get a copy, just send to me a brief email, and I'll attach a copy
and return it to you.

It will help you:

Learn the difference between contesting and ragchewing.

Learn the difference between "Running" Mode and "Search and
Pounce" Mode and why it is important that both ops in a contest QSO stick
to their contest exchange "scripts" and timing.

Learn how Baudot RTTY differs from all other modes (digital and otherwise) and
why contesting procedures that work for CW and SSB may not work well with RTTY.
 Example:  A CW contester in S&P mode needs to send his callsign to the
Runner only once; but in RTTY, because of the possibility of garbles, sending a
callsign (or an exchange element) only once creates uncertainty about accurate
reception (especially in QRN and QRM).  Sending your callsign a second, or even
a third (never a fourth) time during QSB serves as a "tiebreaker"
confirmation.  After all, the purposes of contesting include making lots of
QSOs per hour and making them accurately, no?

Learn how to create quick and efficient contest exchanges that do not
contribute to QRM and waste the other operator's time.  

Learn how to assemble your exchanges to facilitate data parsing (by eye or by
your contest logger), speeding up the flow of contest information.  

Learn about "garbles," what causes them, what are their results, why
Baudot is much more prone to them than other digital modes, and how to minimize
them.  Hint:  Baudot RTTY does not do error correcting as do newer digital
modes.  

Learn some techniques that will put you at the top of pileups (or at the bottom
of them).

And much more.

I hope to hear from you!

73, and yours for better RTTY contesting,

Dan, k7ia


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