[RTTY] RTTY Newbie and brag files

[Kok Chen]

On Mar 1, 2011, at 3/1    8:22 AM, Roger Cooke wrote:

> Actually, we scoff at brag tapes and so on, but in essence they are  
> not that much different from a normal QSO, in which we exchange  
> names, locations, antennas, gear, but stop at Aunt Nellie's cat or  
> our birthdays!

I am one of those who scoff at brag tapes.  So much so that, to  
prevent the newbies from using long ones and not type anything  
manually at all, cocoaModem defaults to a built in timeout for how  
long you can transmit from a file without the operator also typing  
something in on the keyboard while the tape is going out.

The usual excuse (but obviously not true) that I hear is that it is  
useful for operators who don't speak English.  So, what they consider  
to be a QSO is just a regurgitation over and over of the same content.

There is no need to work these stations since you can just read what  
they had to say from the previous QSO.

The biggest problem that I find is that a brag tape encourages the  
operator to include useless information.  It is almost like they are  
embarrassed if their QSO is short.  And almost always they just  
include a list of equipment they had purchased.

IMHO... just because a machine is helping you transmit a signal, there  
is no reason to also let the machine determine what you transmit.  If  
they want to send mindless exchanges, they can do so in a contest.

73
Chen, W7AY