[RTTY] Contester preference - 1- versus 2-decimal-place spots

[Ed Muns]

Yes.  I am very uncomfortable with tuning being done for me and selecting
which signal to zero-beat.  My multiple decoders are grouped on a much
smaller number of audio streams.  At most, there are 4 audio streams
(usually) which are the main and sub-receivers on two radios.  There may be
2-6 decoders on each stream.  All the decoders on one audio stream are
aligned when I zero-beat the signal I want to decode in that audio stream.
I certainly wouldn't want different decoders on one audio stream each
zero-beating a different signal.  Worse, imagine my AFC moving me into
someone else's pile-up.

As a practical matter, most callers are close enough and those that aren't
just have to wait until they are the last ones calling and I tune for them.
Long term, my behavior encourages them to tune where I'm listening.

Even on S&P I dislike AFC.  Especially when attempting to manage multiple
audio streams, I want absolute certainty on my tuning and where I'm
listening.  I self-inflict enough surprises on myself without purposely
deploying the uncertainty of AFC.   ;>)

That said, the AFC in 2Tone has a restricted 60 Hz range, so it is less of a
problem.  Plus, the tuning reference lines allow me to zero-beat and ignore
AFC.  In fact, such restricted AFC is arguably an asset by gaining zero-beat
a few milliseconds sooner than my manual tuning and beginning a more
reliable decoding.  It is a small enough delta that my concerns above are
minimized, and therefore it is not an AFC that replaces good zero-beating by
the operator.

Ed W0YK  

-----Original Message-----
From: RTTY [mailto:rtty-bounces at contesting.com] On Behalf Of john at kk9a.com
Sent: 15 October, 2015 11:05
To: rtty at contesting.com
Subject: Re: [RTTY] Contester preference - 1- versus 2-decimal-place spots

Do you abhor AFC in all of the multiple decoders that you using?

John KK9A

-----Original Message----- From: Ed Muns
Sent: Wednesday, October 14, 2015 4:08 PM
To: 'Jeff AC0C' ; 'Pete Smith N4ZR'
Cc: 'RTTY Contesting'
Subject: Re: [RTTY] Contester preference - 1- versus 2-decimal-place spots

Good point about AFC.  I abhor that feature and never use it, so don't
consider it much.  To the extent spots are accurate to 2 decimal points
relative to the radio, then AFC would benefit S&P by reducing manual tuning.
I still shutter at the thought of this.   ;>)

Ed W0YK

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