[RTTY] Decoder performance on crowded bands

[Bill Turner]

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On Wed, 30 Sep 2015 16:06:25 -0700, you wrote:

>
>Why do RTTY ops even put a "cq" at the end of their cq message?
>
>CW ops never put a CQ at the end (except for a few newbie 
>converts from RTTY).  45 Baud RTTY is 60 wpm, a lot faster than 
>contest CW, so it's not like we had to wait so long for the call 
>sign that we forgot that it was a CQ.
>
>Since RTTY Skimmers are increasingly powerful and popular, and 
>are getting confused by the cq at the end, maybe it's time to 
>just drop that final cq.
>
>Dave Hachadorian, K6LL
>Yuma, AZ

REPLY:

It's not a case of "forgetting" that it was a CQ. It's a case of
tuning across a station and getting only "...W6WRT W6WRT"
The question is is W6WRT CQing or S&Ping? Can't tell, and so you have
to wait for another transmission. 

On the other hand, If you hear "...W6WRT W6WRT CQ" there is no doubt
and you can answer immediately. 

And of course, it's not just RTTY. CW contesters often add "TEST" at
the end of their CQ's for the same reason. Likewise, SSB'ers add
"CONTEST". 

As Martha says "It's a good thing".  :-)

73, Bill W6WRT