[RTTY] Using "DE" is not needed (and perhaps should be abandonned) for any software to recognize callsigns.

[David VE3VID]

TLTR   :(    de VE3VID


 
> From: alex at kr1st.com
> To: rtty at contesting.com
> Date: Tue, 4 Jan 2011 09:41:26 -0500
> Subject: [RTTY] Using "DE" is not needed (and perhaps should be abandonned) for any software to recognize callsigns.
> 
> There is a no need to use "DE" in front of a callsign in order to recognize
> a callsign . That might have been a half decent solution in the old DOS days
> when programming languages could hardly do more than some string
> manipulation and a few numbers, but those days have long gone, and better
> programming techniques have been developed and made available in any
> programming language especially for these tasks.
> 
> If software would use Regular Expressions, which have been around for
> decades, then it could find callsigns without any requirement of the "DE"
> preceding a callsign or requiring a character, like a space, to trail a
> callsign. This is not some sort of advanced programming, it's a well-known
> and well understood mechanism to look for patterns in a string (which all a
> callsign in a text really is).
> 
> Think about it. Would you be able to recognize callsigns in a text even if
> there is no "DE" preceding a callsign? Of course you can, and so can
> software. And if the software can't, then it is perfectly fine to require
> from the software that it can. It should be there to serve you, and not the
> other way around (as you would be doing when you change a macro to make sure
> a certain software package would pick up your call).
> 
> Airlink Express (which is not contesting software by any means) has two
> methods to find callsigns in received text. In the PSKReporter mode it will
> look for "DE callsign callsign". This is dictated by the PSKReporter
> software/site, and I cannot change that requirement, although I did use
> Regular Expressions that will outperform any string manipulation routine
> that just looks for the above string of characters. (think about
> interference that can flip a few bits making a simple string search
> meaningless)
> 
> The second method is used in Airlink Express when the PSKReporter mode is
> turned off. It will then use Regular Expressions to find callsigs by looking
> for a callsign pattern, much like you would look for callsigns as a human,
> rather than using the primitive "DE " method. In this mode in it will find
> many more callsigns, which you can correlate with a database if you wish.
> Yes, it is also not perfect, but it will outperform the "DE" method by leaps
> and bounds.
> 
> Wouldn't you much rather have the software alert you to the DX call in
> "DFG.E A61BR. BR", then let it slip past you because the software didn't
> recognize the callsign because of "improper formatting" and/or that it was
> not in your super check database, while you really could use that multiplier
> or were looking for multipliers?
> 
> Happy New Year to all.
> 
> 73,
> --Alex KR1ST.com
> http://www.airlinkexpress.org
> 
> 
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