Ron

Sent from my Samsung S4


-------- Original message --------
From: "Bob Hensey, K4VBM" <ptcorners@gmail.com>
Date: 07/18/2019 11:46 AM (GMT-05:00)
To: nfarl <nfarl@groups.io>, GARS@groups.io
Subject: [GARS] Explanation of 'Best S & P' from Joe Taylor himself

A quote by Joe Taylor:

QUOTE
Evidently you have not participated in testing recent RC# (beta release) versions of WSJT-X that include FT4.  The FT4 mode is designed for HF contesting.  The "Best S+P" button (not yet described in the User Guide) is an aid for contest operating.  You're not in a contest, but choosing to playing with FT4 anyway; the button is not particularly useful in your situation.

Clicking "Best S+P" during an Rx cycle arms the program to examine all CQ messages decoded at the end of the Rx sequence.  The program will select the best potential QSO partner (from a contesting perspective), and treat it as if you had double-clicked on that line of decoded text. Here “best potential QSO partner” means “New Multiplier” (1st priority) or “New Call on Band” (2nd priority).  “New Multiplier” is currently interpreted to mean “New DXCC”; a more broadly defined multiplier category (for the ARRL RTTY Roundup rules) will be implemented in due course.  We might also provide additional priority rankings, for example “New Grid on Band” (useful for North American VHF contests), sorting by signal strength, etc.

"Best S+P" can be used sensibly only if you have defined what "Best" is supposed to mean.  That's done by configuring things suitably on the Settings | Colors tab.  It's not the colors themselves that matter; it's which ones are selected, and in what order.  These things determine what potential QSO partners are "best" in the sense used by the "Best S+P" button.  The best choices may be very different for different contests.

For example, under the RTTY Roundup rules, you should select ONLY the following: "My Call in message", "New DXCC", "New Call on Band", "CQ in message" and "Transmitted message" (reading from top to bottom).

    -- 73, Joe, K1JT

UNQUOTE

So the color settings in WSJT-X impact how the 'Best S & P' button works.
As I mentioned before, FT4 is really to be used for contesting as it uses more bandwidth than FT8 and the short cycles are for maximum QSO throughput.

I wanted to play with it to see how it works, and was impressed by what the Joe Taylor team has created.
Please be mindful and considerate as you always are when you use FT4 in a non-contesting mode.

Bob
K4VBM