[RTTY] Re the OK Cabrillo

[Robert Chudek - KØRC]

I believe the logs are manually acknowledged. This morning I received this 3-line message:

> Your log received.
> 
> 73,
> 
> Milos Prostecky, OK1MP

This doesn't look like a robot to me.

I was looking forward to the OK RTTY contest but the propagation forecast (and reality) turned my effort into an opportunity to try something new. I normally contest using N1MM Logger. Recently I have been working with a new beta copy of AA6YQ's WinWarbler from the DXLab Suite product, so I decided to see what I could do with this new (to me) software.

I setup basic macros and began climbing the learning curve. I tweaked my messages as I went along. The software worked great without any issues. All the delays and fumbles you saw emanating from my station were self inflicted! It took a while to adjust to using different function keys, but eventually I got into the swing of things.

Here's an observation. I will say that some of you guys were "intimidating" on the receiving end. What I mean by this is, even though I'm a seasoned RTTY operator, using totally different software threw me back into a "newbie" category. So when I couldn't find the right macro or key to push fast enough, you didn't wait and you would retransmit your report to me. I don't think I lost any QSO's because of my poor timing, but it made me think how fellows just start out in RTTY contesting might feel. Of course the poor propagation conditions didn't help anybody's confidence level this weekend.

WinWarbler did not have a specific setup for the OK contests. I chose the CQWW RTTY template and ran with that. After the contest I output the Cabrillo file. I checked the website for log requirements and saw the file was missing a few of the elements. I imported the Cabrillo file into Excel and added columns for the missing information. I created formulas to generate the points for each QSO and I identified the band/entities manually.

I attached both my original Cabrillo file and my spreadsheet file to my submission email. From the message I received this AM, apparently the sponsor is satisfied with the data I provided.

I had 86 contacts which generated 206 points times 28 multipliers for a total score of 5,824. I worked one JA long path and copied an HL but he was in S&P mode so I missed that multiplier.

73 de Bob - KØRC in MN


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Message: 7
Date: Sun, 17 Dec 2006 15:32:37 +0000
From: Graham Ridgeway <m5aav at btinternet.com>
Subject: Re: [RTTY] Re the OK Cabrillo
To: pcooper at guernsey.net, rtty at contesting.com
Message-ID: <imoao21h69vr3pff3dgsmd5a2ndhe5thdf at 4ax.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii

Does anyone know if they use a robot with auto responses, or does one
wait for a human to acknowledge a log submission ??


73 Graham M5AAV