[CQ-Contest] Cut numbers -- a different take

[Art Boyars]

Well, yes, they are annoying -- especially if I am running (hah!).  But...

1.  If I am S&P, I usually hear one report before my QSO, so I am ready for
cut numbers.  (That's for actual spot-free S&P; might not apply to
skill-free point-and-click.)

2.  I think we will eventually learn to copy cut numbers, just like we
learned to love 5NN -- and even ENN -- even at QRQQQ.  And I think all the
big guns here in Zone 5 are sending 5NN 5, not even T5 or o5, and certainly
not 05.  Who am I to complain if some European wants to send A4 or A5, or
if some Brazilian wants to use AA?  It all saves time, and, as the noted
electrical experimenter Ben Franklin (3BF, in the pre-license days) said,
"Time is QSOs."

3.  "Ah," you say, "A4, etc., are zone numbers.  We already know those.
We're complaining about Ser No's."  Yes, and you have made my point about
CQ WW -- no copying skill req'd; but that's a different topic.  But it does
lead me to...

4.  ...Point 2, again.  The user has to be smart -- what can the copying
station handle -- in this particular QSO?  It's just like wise use of code
speed (or phonetics).  Right now, I think most of the regular contesters
can decode N=9 and T=0 in a QSO NR.  I think E=5 and A=1 will be next.  I
don't know if we'll ever get beyond that.

In the end, Darwin (preferring the soft sciences, he was never QRV) will
rule, and what works best will survive.  Who want's to go back to .....
----. ----. ----- .....? Or hand keys? Or paper logs?  The innovators will
decide what improves their desired results -- whether that be max rates,
max points, or max fun.

(Regarding leading zeros: Those of us who start the 'Test late and are
sending NR<10 when everybody else is >200 find that it helps to send the
leading zero until you have at least two digits, sometimes three.  The
copying op often cannot believe that NR 5 is right, and asks for a repeat.
OTOH, many lower-tier op's do, indeed, seem to use it too long, but that
might be based on their own experience.)

And if you are sitting there grumping while everybody else is increasing
their rate by 1% or 2%, I sincerely hope you are having fun.

73, Art K3KU
"Tune for maximum fun"