[CQ-Contest] Cut number advice

[Gerry Hull]

I thought I'd try it out for one contest... I'd say 60 out of 900+
QSOs asked for a fill... about 7%.   That's more than I want, so I'll
send the full numbers next time.

I did notice a distinct pause as people did the conversion.

Some may ask why "99"?   N1VT is a club call, first licensed in 1999 as KB1CCB.

73, Gerry, W1VE ('76)

On 11/5/07, Jimk8mr at aol.com <Jimk8mr at aol.com> wrote:
>
> In a message dated 11/5/2007 9:54:18 A.M. Eastern Standard Time,
> gerry.hull at gmail.com writes:
> I used NN VT instead of 99 VT.   I got asked for a lot of fills.
> I found this strange... N for 9 is VERY common.  If I sent NN as
> the fill, they get it immediately.
>
>
>
>
> Unlike the NN in 5NN, the SS check actually has to be logged.  So the time
> you think you save by sending the short "NN" is lost as the guy on the other
> end has to make the translation from "NN" to "99", find the "99" keys, and
> then type "VT", all before acknowledging your exchange.
>
> The guy on the other end also might have been tricked into thinking you had
> forgot to send your check, and were going straight to sending your section,
> which might have been NNJ or NNY.
>
> Cut numbers made sense in the days of straight keys, where a long dash saved
> a lot of carpel tunnel wear and tear vs. five separate dashes.  In these
> days of machine generated CW, they make sense only where the numbers are
> meaningless, like leading zeros, 5NN or a zone number already known from the
> callsign.
>
>
> 73  -  Jim  K8MR
>
>
>
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-- 
Gerry, W1VE/VE1RM
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