[RTTY] WPX 2007

[Alan Burgstahler]

Jim,

We're all happy to see new RTTY operators on the air.  After all, it gives 
all of us more people to contact.

I also used to start each macro with a LF and end with a LF (or an ENTER, 
depending on your software).  Actually, its CRLF, or a carriage return and 
then a line feed (which is what an ENTER usually sends on the software).  In 
my case it was because I got in that habit when I was running the old 
mechanical machines in the 1960s, because some people in those days didn't 
have their machines set up to automatically go to a new line if the print 
went to the end of the line on the paper and then continued printing.  For 
those people, it would go to the end of the line and just sit there printing 
one character on top of the other, resulting in a black blob on the paper 
that wasn't readable.  So we would always sent a CRLF at the end of our 
transmission so the person receiving would start out on a new line 
automatically.

(Then I was off HF for many years, and got back on in 2003 and everything 
was different, i.e., not very many mechanical machines and everything being 
done with computers.)

With the computer operation, it seems that people want the line to stay 
where it is at the end of your transmission, so they can click on your call 
or report without having to chase it up the screen.  I personally didn't 
have too much trouble with a CRLF at the end of the transmission, the only 
problem being people who seem to want to put things like....... N7BF de 
WX0XXX CRLF CRLF CRLF CRLF 599 599 599 CRLF CRLF CRLF 035 035 035 CRLF CRLF 
CRLF K K K CRLF.   Now I know that's a partial exaggeration, but we've all 
seen something like that on the air during a contest.  What it results in is 
a bunch of blank space on the screen, and there's no reason to do it.  Like 
I said in an earlier posting, if I was still running a mechanical printer 
printing on paper, I would take the person to task on the air for wasting my 
paper.

The feeling by many people (and I have changed my macros over to this 
method, unless I forget at the beginning of a contest) is to send a CRLF (or 
ENTER) at the beginning of your transmission, and not at the end of the 
transmission.  HOWEVER, if you just send something like......
"N7BF de WX0XX"  (ignore the quote marks) and drop your carrier with nothing 
after your call of WX0XXX, then I might get something on my screen like 
"N7BF de WX0XXMTJR5DW8XMT" .  Now, my question is, what is the call that is 
calling me?  The garbage that may print on the screen after the call is not 
definitive as to where the call ends.  So to counteract this, the solution 
is to send at least one space (or two or three) at the end of the exchange 
so that is comes out like "N7BF de WX0XX   MTJR5DW8XMT".  Now that way I can 
understand what your call is, even though I get garbage on the screen after 
it.  And this goes for all the transmissions.

Another problem is those people who will respond with something like "N7BF 
599 450"  with no space on the end, and only send the exchange one time. 
First of all, if there is QSB or QRM on the frequency, I'm not really sure I 
got their number right, since they only sent it once.  The other problem is 
that in some of the contest software (and I'm not sure which it is), what 
I'll get out of the exchange is "N7BF 599 4"  and their transmitter drops 
too soon and I don't get the rest of the exchange.  Consequently, assuming 
I'm awake enough and aware enough to get the problem, I have to ask for a 
repeat because I have decided that their exchange isn't complete.  I've even 
seen it with people who will call me (while I'm CQing) and send their call 
once, and then the transmitter drops off the air too soon, and I don't get 
their entire call.  I've seen it when people will call with, for example, 
"W7MGU W7MG"  (just picked the call at random) because their transmitter 
dropped off too soon.  If I got their call right the first time, then I'm 
ok, but there have been times that I have come back to someone based on the 
first instance of their call and found out that is was really W7MGY, but 
since I didn't get the second time he sent his call, I lost the opportunity 
to see that the two calls didn't match.  The important stuff needs to be 
sent at least twice, and sometimes three times, to make sure it comes 
through, and putting a space or two at the end of the exchange helps to make 
sure it all comes through ok (regardless of whether the transmitter drops 
off too soon or not) and separates it from the garbage that may print on the 
screen after the transmitter drops off.  The one thing that doesn't need to 
be sent more than once is the 599.  We all know it's coming and that's what 
the signal report is going to be, so you don't have to send, "N7BF 599 599 
599 035 035".  I know it's 599, and it's a required part of the exchange by 
the rules of the contest, but you don't have to repeat it.

(I know I'm getting long winded here......or long typing, etc.)

Another thing that is good is especially when you're CQing and someone 
answers you, to send something like (assuming I answered someone's CQ), 
"N7BF 599 035 035 N7BF".  The reason to put the person's call at the 
beginning and at the end is because if there is interference or QSB, I may 
not get the first instance of my call coming back to me, therefore I don't 
know who the person is responding to.  I've seen instances of "KQMDX 599 035 
035" and they dropped their carrier.  Now who are they responding to?  I may 
not be the only person calling them.  When I've been calling CQ, I've had 
two or three (and sometimes more) people calling me at once, and they don't 
all drop their carriers at the same time.  Sometimes they think I haven't 
gotten their call on their first transmission and they call me a second 
time, maybe obliterating the beginning of my response to someone else who 
has called me.

Well, I know I've gone on and on, and there are probably reasons why I do a 
couple of my other macros differently, but I'm not going to get into that on 
this e-mail.  I hope some of this helps, and probably is far beyond what you 
started to ask, but those are my thought on some of the things I see on the 
air during a contest.

Alan - N7BF

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Jim Barron" <wb5aaa at alltel.net>
To: "'Alan Burgstahler'" <alan-ham at comcast.net>
Sent: Tuesday, February 13, 2007 7:24 AM
Subject: RE: [RTTY] WPX 2007


> Alan,
> I am new to all this RTTY Contesting and only do it for a FEW HOURS
> Just for fun.
> I always start with a LF and finish with a LF
> The main reason it that everything I send is on one line (that is if there
> are no hits)
> My question is this bad thinking??
>
> I know I need to set up my Macros better but we are just learning.
>
> Thanks
> 73 de Jim wb5aaa
> later,
> Jim Barron