[CQ-Contest] Cut numbers and V47T SSB recordings

[john at kk9a.com]

Personally I prefer that stations just say the state name. In most  
cases it is quicker and clearer, at least to me.  Perhaps people in  
other countries feel differently however I do not recall ever having  
an issue in the ARRL DX Phone contest when I operated from North  
Carolina or Illinois and just said the state name. I find that "Mike  
Alpha" and "Mike Delta" can sound very similar in contest conditions.  
For me saying just the two letter postal code non-phonetically  
sometimes threw me off, probably because it was unexpected and  
sometimes not easy to copy. I recall hearing DX which made no sense  
until it was repeated and I heard TX, in this case just saying "Texas"  
would have gotten through the first time.

John KK9A - P40A in 2020 ARRL DX Phone



Art Boyars K3KU

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