[RTTY] Pet Peeve

[Richard Ferch]

W4UK said:

>One minor point: it takes TWO characters to send what we think of as a 
>carriage return. The <CR> character is 01000 and the <LF> is 00010. Both 
>characters have to be received 100% OK for it to work properly. Guys that 
>have used the old mechanical machines know exactly how quickly it goes to 
>pot if the return happens without a corresponding line feed.

Actually, Jerry, I doubt whether any modern software would not 
automatically add an <LF> any time it sees a <CR> on its own - there is no 
sensible way to display a <CR> without an <LF> on a computer monitor 
(overwriting what is already there is not a good design choice). So if your 
software can send a <CR> without an <LF>, it probably won't cause a problem 
for most of the people you work (unlike the bad old days, where it might 
even have been safest to send two <LF>'s to be sure at least one got through!).

I agree with you that a space may be preferable at the beginning of a 
message because of the additional beneficial effect using USOS. But at the 
trailing end of a message is a different story. A call sign sent with no 
trailing spaces often ends up on my screen as W4UKASDFGHJKL or some such 
mess, and not only can I not mouse click on it, I can't even figure out 
whether it's a 1x2 or a 1x3 call (well, in that particular case I can, but 
you know what I mean). And unfortunately I believe that some popular 
software actually ignores trailing spaces in buffers, so just putting them 
into your messages does not ensure that they actually get sent.

Personally, when this happens to me I often just wait for the next CQ so I 
can click on the call rather than try to fumble-finger the call sign in the 
entry window. Of course, that wastes time for both of us. As an aside, it 
may seem strange at first, but my typing is far better when I am copying CW 
than when I am reading RTTY off the screen. This is probably because I tend 
to look at my fingers when I type, which is hard to do when you are reading 
the screen. So I like to work only from the keyboard in CW (no mouse - I'm 
already using a paddle with my mouse hand), but I prefer the mouse to the 
keyboard in RTTY. I'd bet I'm not the only one!

Anyway, try ending your QRZ messages with either a <CR> or a <space>CQ (you 
can use <space>K too, but CQ has the added benefit of making it clear you 
are not in the middle of a QSO) to see whether it improves your immediate 
response rate. You do not need to follow the CQ (or K) with a space or a 
<CR> - no-one is going to try to click on it.

Of course, (another pet peeve from an S&Per) sending your call sign just 
once even without trailing spaces is better than not sending it at all. I 
think the guys who pull this last stunt must never try S&Ping themselves, 
or they would realize how often you come across almost completed QSOs where 
the only way to guess the call sign of the running station is to see it in 
the QRZ message (unless it's already in the band map, of course). Sending 
your call sign once completely in the clear improves your chances of 
getting an immediate return on your QRZ message unless you already have a 
pileup.

Another bad practice which has already been mentioned is putting periods, 
commas, slashes or whatever immediately next to your call sign or to one of 
the exchange elements. Again, this prevents using the mouse and slows down 
the guy who is trying to copy you. More to the point, it ultimately slows 
down the perpetrator's rate more than it does anyone else's, because it 
only happens to the other guy on rare QSOs whereas the perpetrator has to 
wait during every single QSO for the other guy to type the data in by hand.

Bottom line - when you are designing your message buffers, give some 
thought to how they will affect the guy on the other end.

73,
Rich VE3IAY