[RTTY] Zone sent as letters?

[Kok Chen]

> Someone must have turned it off at the original poster's station.

That is an incorrect analysis of the original poster's (AD1C) problem.

The "599 PR AL" is due the fact that the receiver was using USOS while  
the transmitter was not.  I.e., Jim *was* using USOS on his MMTTY  
setup.  He never turned it off.  It is the transmitter that was not  
using USOS.

Moreover, using spaces in between numbers, when USOS is turned on, is  
a very bad idea.  When USOS is engaged, the space forces the  
transmitter to send an extra character (FIGS shift) in between the  
numbers.  For short contest exchanges, this extra character increases  
the probability of errors at the receiving end by a significant  
amount, not to mention slowing down the exchange. (Both are the same  
reasons that you do not use upper case characters in a PSK31 contest.)

Since the "-" character in the Baudot code is in FIGS part of the  
table, the encoder will breeze right through the "599-3" part of the  
exchange without sending any unneeded shift characters, whether or not  
USOS is turned on at the transmitter.

Indeed, 599-3 is encoded into exactly the same Baudot sequence whether  
the transmitter is using USOS or not, and it is received as 599-3  
whether the receiver is using USOS or not.  It is the most perfectly  
cross compatible way to send RST and a zone number.

I repeat, "599-3" sent with or without USOS is received as "599-3"  
whether or not the receiver is using USOS.

If dashes are harder to read than spaces on the screen, just map a  
dash into a space in the software.

73
Chen, W7AY