[CQ-Contest] Cut numbers and V47T SSB recordings

[Randy Thompson]

I used to listen to W6PH complain about having people spell out their state abbreviation instead of just saying the state name.  For an experienced USA contester, we know the state names and how to extract them from QRM.  It is often confusing when people say the letters phonetically because it doesn't match what we are expecting.

Saying "M D" is a good example.  I probably had to think, 1) Is he done?, 2) Is it ND or MD?, 3) Is it Maryland?

I got better at dealing with the different state identifiers as I went through the weekend, but it still would sometimes catch me out.

Having said all that, it makes perfect sense for W/VWE ops to say the state abbreviations for non-USA contesters because they don't all know or can guess the correct state identifier without our help.  

Not complaining, but it is a great example of how our expectations impact information transfer.

As for cut numbers, they have a place.  When I was sending a long number in QRM this weekend, I would occasionally send the full number one time and then use a cut number the second time.  This could help the receiving operator confirm that some digits were a 0 or 9.

Randy K5ZD


-----Original Message-----
From: CQ-Contest <cq-contest-bounces+k5zd=outlook.com at contesting.com> On Behalf Of Art Boyars
Sent: Sunday, March 22, 2020 2:45 PM
To: CQ-Contest Reflector <cq-contest at contesting.com>
Subject: [CQ-Contest] Cut numbers and V47T SSB recordings

Having listened to myself work V47T in the recent ARRL DX SSB Test (thanks for the QSOs and for the recordings!) I had been thinking about cut numbers, even before VE9AA raised the issue again.  How so?

I worked V47T on March 8 at 0358Z on 80M.  You can listen for yourself.  I could tell that Randy could hear me fine, because the first time I called
he got my prefix before a louder station covered me up.   After working the
louder station Randy said (instead of a "QRZ"), "the K3?"

I responded without phonetics: "K 3 K U".  Randy got it fine and gave me my report.  Then I got too cute -- I said "5 9  M D", without phonetics.

Randy had a little hitch in his "thanks".  I think my saying "M D" instead of "Mike Delta" was unusual, and threw him off for a second.  (Or maybe he was tuning the second radio or picking his bagel up off the floor.)

So, sending something unexpected -- cut numbers, in many cases -- causes confusion, wasting all the time you saved.

QED.

But maybe we'll learn.  I think we're all fine with "ENN K".  But until we all learn, using cut numbers can be chancy.  And a pain in the receiving op's neck.

73, Art K3KU
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