[RTTY] [RTTY Hall of Shame (bad subject)

[Bill Turner]

ORIGINAL MESSAGE:

On Wed, 27 Sep 2006 10:43:20 +0300, "TL_IARC" <4z4tl at iarc.org> wrote:


>One must wonder:
>If beacons serve to indicate the nature of propagation etc'
>than any radio traffic on those frequency does the same - and more - and 
>perhaps better at times.


------------ REPLY FOLLOWS ------------

No it does not, for the following reasons:

1. The non-beacon radio traffic may be from an unknown location.
Callsigns can not necessarily be trusted.

2. The non-beacon radio traffic will usually be at an unknown power
level and have unknown antennas which may be directional and may be
pointed in any direction. Or not.

3. Even if all of the above are known exactly, you still only have one
or possible two stations for a reference. 


By comparison, the NCDXF beacons:

1. Have known locations.

2. Have known antennas and power levels which vary in precisely known
stpes.

3. Cover the whole world on many frequencies.

IMO, there is no comparison in usefulness. The beacons win.

Bill, W6WRT