[RTTY] Take Two RTTY Exchange

[Mike Tindor AA8IA]

I don't have a problem with anybody trying to educate the new RTTY op or the 
very casual RTTY op who participates in a contest.   I appreciate what I've 
learned from many of the folks on this reflector.  There are a lot of 
knowledgeable ops on here contributing positively to the hobby.   But it 
seems to me that some who are "in it to win it" constantly complain about 
other stations who are sending too much information, not sending it in the 
proper format, or who are in some way affecting your rate negatively.

Granted, this is coming from someone who has never achieved anything near 
contest rate and who has never been in it to win it.   I'm obviously not a 
contester in the winning sense.    Without exception I am grateful to anyone 
who responds to my CQ and anyone who pulls out my call when they are CQing. 
If I'm S&P, I really do try to keep exchanges quick and include only the 
necessary data.   If I'm calling CQ in a contest though, it doesn't bother 
me a bit if the person answering my CQ sends "599 PA PA" or if they sends a 
lengthy exchange.   If it weren't for all of the S&P stations, those of you 
[and myself sometimes] who are CQing wouldn't have a chance at winning 
anything.    After all, you have to have stations to work in order to garner 
points.

RTTY is being adopted by more and more contesters and casual ops every day. 
Even in the short two years that I've been playing on RTTY, I've noticed an 
ever increasing number of new stations on the air and available to be worked 
in RTTY contests.   This is a good thing.   Just in the past 6-8 months I've 
noticed quite a few CW/SSB contesters participating in RTTY contests for the 
first time... and liking it.   I'm just happy there are stations to be 
worked.

Seems to me that those who are serious about contesting shouldn't be 
expecting every other op to do everything to increase your rate for you. 
Instead you should be doing everything that _you_ possibly can to achieve 
the highest rate under whatever conditions are presented to you.

I could be the lousiest op on earth [and maybe I am], but I could still 
achieve a respectable [not winning] score with minimal skill and effort if 
every other op who worked me kept their exchanges concise, listened to my 
previous QSOs to make sure they had all relevant info ahead of time, etc. 
If every other op conforms to the operating practices that I want to see, 
that might allow me to achieve a great score but it doesn't necessarily make 
me the best op I can be.

Less time should be spent complaining about all of the ops who slowed down 
our rate, and more time should be spent figuring out how to improve our own 
operation after considering what challenges are presented to us during a 
particular contest.

As a few people have already said, it's supposed to be fun.   I'll add to 
that -- it's supposed to be fun for me _and_ for the guy or gal I'm working.

Mike / AA8IA