[RTTY] macros

[Kok Chen]

On Tue, 17 Feb 2009 11:11:03 -0700, "W0MU Mike Fatchett"
<w0mu at w0mu.com> wrote:

> Some people strung together the report and sn which
> was a pain 599005599005.
>
> What is the current feeling on 599 002-002 with the dash?

IMHO, a dash in between numbers is not bad.  Others may not like the  
esthetics.

A dash in between letters is not so good, "599 AZ-AZ" takes one extra  
FIGS and one extra LTRS to send.

More letters = slower + more likely for errors to obscure the  
message.  Remember that an unshifted "-" can be confused with the  
character "A".

As to stringing numbers together, it can save more than just the  
space characters.  If you run USOS, spaces also involves extra  
<FIGS>.  I.e., if you have USOS turned on and you are sending spaces  
between numbers, e.g.., "599 001 001", you also have to send FIGS  
after the spaces, i.e.,

599<space><FIGS>001<space><FIGS>001

instead of 599001001

In spite of the transmission savings, sending the latter might get  
more pins stuck in your voodoo doll, though :-).

599-001-001 is a decent compromise, IMO, if you are have USOS turned on.

I don't think there is any set "rule."  You need to craft your  
exchanges to what you are actually sending.  If you are USA/Canada in  
the RTTY Roundup, spaces are really good if both people use USOS and  
spaces are really bad if the sender uses USOS and the receiver does  
not.  I.e., if I use "weak" USOS and the receiver does not use USOS,  
I will send

599 OR OR  (notice that because of USOS, I don't need to send the  
LTRS after the 599)

But some person who receives with USOS turned off will print the  
above as

599 94 94

(this is because the space character appears in both LTRS and FIGS  
encodings).

Some programs have facilities to transmit what I ad-hoc-ly call  
"strong" USOS.  I.e., you always transmit a <LTRS> after a space if a  
number does not follow.

That is why when you are sending a state/province exchange, it is  
worth having a secondary macro that says something like 599-OR-OR.   
It is slower, but can be useful for the occasions when you get AGN?  
AGN? over and over.

If you have USOS turned off,  you probably have seen

"599 OR-OR"  turn up as "599 94-OR"

I.e., the print seems to correct itself!  Well, that is because the  
sender is using USOS and he is transmitting

599 OR<FIGS>-OR.

If you are not using USOS, the first "OR" looks like a number!

Moral of the story: use USOS only if you think the other end is  
receiving with USOS.  Or be prepared with the countermeasures that I  
have mentioned above (e.g., send 599-OR-OR instead of 599 OR OR).

73
Chen, W7AY