[RTTY] Two NA Sprint Questions

[Ed Muns]

> Last night was my first NA Sprint and it was definitely 
> different.  At the start I watched a couple of exchanges to 
> see how it flowed (wasn't able to be in the practice session) 
> and then jumped in. From a few interactions I had it might 
> have helped some others to watch a couple exchanges.  And it 
> seemed that some ops (a small number) didn't know they were 
> supposed to relinquish the frequency or that they were 
> supposed to take the frequency. 

Yes, there were a few stations that didn't understand the QSY rule.  I know
it is frustrating at first because it messes up your rhythm, but then I
realize that this is GOOD news that new folks are getting on to try Sprint.
For now, I think it is more important to get the activity up than to
criticize newcomers too harshly and discourage them from participating.  The
Sprint format is hard enough to get used to without additional pressure from
the experienced ops.

> Not sure why with what seemed to me a relatively small number 
> of stations that everyone had to be on top of each and even 
> overlapping signals at times.  Even with a tight filter I 
> couldn't knock out the other station so I'm sure those 
> without tight filters just moved to another frequency.

Interesting.  I didn't see that problem much except with some very strong
locals on 80, i.e., S9 plus 60 dB, whose signal bothered me when only 600 Hz
or so away.  Unless you have narrow roofing filtering in addition to narrow
IF filtering, strong signals can pump the AGC and create IMD in your
passband.

> So here's my first question.. An odd part of the whole 
> exchange is the final confirmation.  The CQ station sends 
> their report. The new station sends their report. What 
> happens next was either the CQ station confirmed and said QSY 
> or another station would immediately call the new station and 
> I wouldn't see a confirmation from the previous CQ station.  
> I think there were 2 times this happened that the original 
> CQing station needed to come back in the middle of the next 
> exchange and ask for the info again.  How *should* it all work?

Well, this is a bit tricky.  The new station often has a 'CQ' or 'QRZ' at
the end of their exchange message.  It's not really needed because their
call is also at the end, per Sprint convention, to signify that they get to
stay on the frequency and the QSO is over.  It is important though for the
CQ station, who is now leaving the frequency, to give a 'TU' or 'QSY' to
confirm they got the report before another QSO starts.  New callers SHOULD
WAIT for this TU message from the prior CQ station before dumping their call
sign it.  Otherwise, they cover up the prior CQ station who may need a fill.

> My second question is that I had 4 stations work me that had 
> previously worked me and I'm wondering why. The rules state 
> you can only work the same station once per band. It could be 
> that they were just putting their call sign out there 
> thinking it was the other station that was previously on the 
> frequency when it was me or it could be that they thought it 
> was ok to work me again? I used N1MM and it said it was dupe 
> as soon as the callsign was entered or it showed on the band 
> map or the digital window. Is other software not updated to 
> indicate a station was already worked in this contest? I 
> worked all 4 stations again and then QSYed.  The down side is 
> I didn't get to a work a new station.

This is most likely due to those 4 stations not knowing that the "legal
dupe" rule was eliminated a year ago.  ;>)  I would ignore them for one
round of CQ and if they persist and cover up all other stations calling,
then I just quickly worked them and moved on.  It was faster than starting a
dialogue about the rules.  This also inflated my serial number as the
contest played out, making others think I was doing better than I really
was, hi!

Thanks for getting on, David!

Ed - W0YK