[RTTY] Macro Guidance

[Alan Burgstahler]

Bob,

Not competitive enough yet?  Baloney!  It doesn't matter.  I see people send 
their logs in with 67 contacts or even less when others are making the the 
1000+ level of contacts.  The point is that you're participating, and 
sending the logs in to the contest sponsors lets them know that you're 
interested.  Also, they use your log to compare to other logs to make sure 
people copied  you correctly.  If you were sending you age as 45 (I don't 
know how old you are, so this is just an example) and some people report in 
their logs that they copied you as 43, then they copied you wrong, and they 
can get penalized for miscopying your exchange.  Without having your log to 
compare what you sent to these people, the contest sponsors have no way of 
finding out whether these people copied you correctly or not.

I'm definitely not in the "big gun" category.  My antennas are not good 
enough for that and my location (in the Pacific Northwest) means that 
propagation (especially in the low sun spot times) is very poor at times, 
but I'm on there to have fun.  Just got back into HF and contesting in 2003, 
and I'm still learning, but enjoying the operating none the less.  I've 
operated a few state QSO parties and even the JIDX SSB contest, and have 
received a certificate for from 6 to 14 contacts, because I was the only one 
in my area that sent in a log.  Sometimes it matters what category you 
entered too.  Some categories have very few entries, thereby making it 
easier for you to win a certificate.  Money?  Fame?  No, but it gives you 
something to laugh about and a certificate to hang on the wall, if you're so 
inclined.

My point is that if you operate the contest, don't feel ashamed of your low 
score and not sending you log into the sponsors.  It should all be done by 
e-mail anyway, which is easy.

Also, before going to Writelog for your contesting program, take a good look 
at the N1MM Logger program.  A lot of people have switched from Writelog and 
say they'll never go back.  Also, the N1MM Logger program is free, so it 
doesn't cost you anything but your time.  Both programs work for people, 
though, and once you get used to a program you learn it's quirks and how to 
operate it better.  The people I really feel for are those on RTTY who are 
obviously using something like MMTTY alone without a contesting program as 
it's outer shell.  These people are obviously having a tough time to get 
things sent, which is so easy when you use a regular contesting program and 
then use MMTTY as the RTTY plug-in, for instance.

Alan - N7BF

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "BOB CONROY" <kb2vmg at yahoo.com>
To: <RTTY at contesting.com>
Sent: Tuesday, October 23, 2007 8:32 AM
Subject: [RTTY] Macro Guidance


> I'm new to HF (been on air since late February) and participated in JARTS 
> and several other recent contests to give points to others.  Although I 
> had more than 175 contacts in JARTS and I'm improving my performance with 
> each contest, I'm just not that competitive yet to submit a log.  Maybe 
> next time.
>
> I do appreciate all that I have learned on this reflector in the aftermath 
> of JARTS.  I especially appreciate the many comments and suggestions on 
> the fine art of crafting sussinct and efficient macros. Before the next 
> contest I will be overhauling all of mine and getting better prepared.  No 
> more dashes, slashes or periods for me. Seeing the ease with which all of 
> you seem to generate reports and log summaries, I'll be switching from 
> MixW to Writelog for my contesting needs.
>
> Thanks again to all of you for my "graduate education" in RTTY and 
> contesting.
>
> 73.
>
> Bob, KB2VMG