[Mldxcc] CQ WW RTTY Message buffers

Mon Sep 18 20:41:50 EDT 2017

hi all - I've been asked to provide a bit of a tutorial on the message
buffers to use for this contest.

TL;DR: Here are the messages to set up for the contest, or at least my idea
of what they should be. Other ways are correct too. Bonus content is a
blurb on the Baudot code, and a couple example setups for N1MM+ and
Writelog.

First off, what I have to say here will be specific to the WW RTTY but
AA5AU has a smashingly detailed writeup that explains the "why" of it all
in general:

https://www.rttycontesting.com/lagniappe/rtty-messages/

Also, what follows is not specific to any contest logger so you'll need to
look up your syntax - I can help with Writelog and I bet someone else here
can cover N1MM+ etc. But there are examples at the end of this.

The following "primary" messages should start with whatever makes your
logger send a new line (carriage return (CR) and line feed (LF)
characters), and they should end with one space plus whatever is needed to
tell your logger to stop transmitting (if any).

(You'll notice that these are pretty similar to what you would do for a CW
contest, but the new line beginning, and space at the end are very
important to keep your messages clear of the noise.)

WW WK6I WK6I CQ = start with 'WW' to show you are in the contest, and
ending with 'CQ' will help the skimmers find you and spot you.

(their-call) 599 3 CA CA = The exchange beginning with the other station's
call. You have to send each element at least once. The CA is best to repeat
twice since it also implies the 3 (not to mention your 6 call). You can get
away with one CA when you are loud or conditions are good, and because of
your 6 call. There is no need to repeat the 599.

TU WK6I CQ = Acknowledge the received exchange with a cheerful appreciation
and make it clear who owns the frequency, and help the skimmers.

Variations...

- When conditions are good and rates high I'll drop down to one callsign in
my CQ: WW WK6I CQ

- You could flip the CQ around like this: CQ WK6I WK6I WW but the other way
is more general for being recognized by the skimmers.

- In principle that exchange is set up for running but it is also okay for
Search&Pounce, and especially if the frequency is crowded the other station
will appreciate hearing their call back to confirm you are actually
responding to them. But if want by all means make a S&P version like: 599 3
CA CA

- Some people will do 599-3 CA CA (dash between the numbers)  and that's
fine. See "Get to know Baudot" below.

Below are other good messages to have handy. These are better to start and
end with a space - instead of a newline - in case you need to send them
more than once.

WK6I = aka your call. You'll know when you need it. ;) I prefer just having
the call once so you can decide in the moment how many to send.

(their-call) = Pretty much any other time you need to send their call: 1)
If I am running and I am getting a lot of callers, I will add their call on
the end of the exchange; the first one may have been obliterated by late
callers. 2) When S&P on a very busy frequency, send their call once before
sending yours 2 or 3 times.

AGN? = for any general repeat, including a callsign you aren't quite
copying. (You could also have QRZ? handy, sometimes DX don't grok the AGN?)

QTH? = repeat state/province. Some will do STATE? but the VEs don't like
it. ;)

ZONE? = the one other thing you might need a repeat for.

3 3 = I like having them twice, then I just hit it once or twice depending
on conditions. Having 3 in the buffer would not be bad either.

CA CA = ditto

QRL? = Because asking if the frequency is in use is being nice. If you do
it and I do it then at least two of us will be doing it.

KB = because why not? :) Or you can do KB WK6I CQ as an alternate to TU.

Also, be sure to have a key defined to start transmitting and type a
message, for anything else you may need to send.

In summary: The above is how I do it. There are other ways that are just as
right. You will certainly see all of them this weekend!

Get to Know Baudot

A RTTY signal uses a 5-bit Baudot code to encode all letters, numbers,
punctuation, and control characters. A quick bit of math will reveal that 5
bits is not enough for everything, so special "shift" control characters is
defined to switch between letters and figures (including numbers) -
commonly referred to as LTRS and FIGS.

In a contest you can fail to correctly decode some characters - this is why
we send the important parts twice. However, if you lose a FIGS character
then the number you are trying to get is no longer a number. For example,
if that JA is trying to send you

59925

and you don't get the FIGS, then you'll receive

TOOWT

There is a trick that can help you deal with this without needing a repeat.
Just note that the top row of letters are shifted to send the numbers. So
the five bit code for 1 is the same as Q after FIGS is sent or received,
and W is 2, and so on. Knowing this will save you from many repeats.

Note that most modern modem software implements "unshift on space" (USOS)
which means it always assumes LTRS applies after any space sent or
received. This is a good thing and can reduce the impact of a lost
character. So with USOS that JA is really sending

FIGS 599 SPACE FIGS 25

And if you missed the just first FIGS you'd see

TOO 25

This is a good thing.

Some people will use a dash between numbers because going to a space forces
an extra FIGS. It's not wrong and not enough benefit to worry about.

I think that's probably more than enough. See you in the WW and Have Fun!

73 jeff wk6i

Appendix - Sample message buffers for N1MM+ and Writelog. First N1MM+
(thanks N6WM)

F1 CQ,{TX}{CLEARRIT}{ENTER}WW * * CQ{ENTER}{RX}
F2 Exch,{TX}599 {EXCH} {EXCH} ! {RX}
F3 TU,{TX}{ENTER}! TU {MYCALL} CQ {CLEARRIT}{RX}
F4 {MYCALL},{TX} {MYCALL} {RX}
F5 His Call,{TX}! {RX}
F6 KB TU,{TX}{ENTER}! KB {MYCALL} CQ {CLEARRIT}{RX}{LOG}
F7 QRZ,{TX} QRZ de {MYCALL} {RX}
F8 AGN?,{TX} AGN? {RX}
F9 ST?,{TX} ST? {RX}
F10 CA,{TX} CA {RX}
F11 Wipe,{WIPE}
F12 Grab,{GRAB}
F1 CQ,{TX}{CLEARRIT}{ENTER}QRL?{ENTER}{RX}
F2 Exch,{TX}{ENTER}! 599 {EXCH} {EXCH} ! {RX}
F3 {MYCALL},{TX} * * {RX}

Writelog:

%RWW WK6I WK6I CQ %E
%R%C 599 3 CA CA %E
%RTU WK6I CQ %E
 WK6I %E
 %C %E
 AGN? %E
 QRZ? %E
 QTH? %E
 ZONE %E
 3 3 %E
 CA CA %E
 QRL? %E
 KB %E (or %RKB WK6I CQ %E)

-- 
Jeff Stai ~ wk6i.jeff at gmail.com
Twisted Oak Winery ~ http://www.twistedoak.com/
Facebook ~ http://www.facebook.com/twistedoak
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