[RTTY] Zone sent as letters?

[Phil Sussman]

Chen, 
Your explanation, as usual, is concise and far better than
I could have ever expressed it.
Thank you,
73, de N8PS
PS. I was sure that I was correct with the - sign.

----------

Quoting Kok Chen <chen at mac.com>:

> > 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
> 
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