[RTTY] Another lesson from Don

[Hank Garretson]

There is a lot to be said for Don's approach.

On the other hand, those who feel more comfortable seeing the number twice
may hesitate and not click on the number right away which could slow things
down.

Here is something I wrote a few years ago which might increase everyone's
comfort level.


> Which brings us to the question of when to ask for a repeat. When do you
> have enough to log a contact? It depends. You don’t have to copy a number
> twice to be confident that you have it right.
>
> If I print 599 005 W6SX, the 599 and W6SX bracketing the 005 tell me it’s
> probably good. I’ll log it unless something else tells me to question it.
>
> One “something” is that you can often tell by ear if an exchange printed
> correctly. Or, perhaps more importantly, you can often tell by ear if an
> exchange is corrupted.
>
> If I print 599 005 0%&*, I’ll probably log 005.
>
> If I print 599 005^*A, I’ll ask for a repeat.
>
> There are lots of scenarios you can build. Contest radiosport is risk
> evaluation. Do I interrupt a 100-per-hour run to be 100% sure of an
> exchange? Or do I evaluate as above and take a chance I’ll lose a low-point
> QSO to log checking? Does my calculus change if it’s a new multiplier I’m
> not likely to find later? Of course.
>

Your print may vary.

Contest Exuberantly,

Hank, W6SX


On Sun, Mar 20, 2016 at 7:24 PM, Alex, VE3NEA <alshovk at dxatlas.com> wrote:

> I was running in the BARTG contest today, and most stations that were
> calling me had their exchange programmed like this:
>
> 599 123 123 123 2359
>
> - that is, the serial number was sent two or three times, followed by the
> time, sent once or twice. My own exchange was no exception. The time was at
> the very end of the message, and when the caller finished his transmission
> and I was supposed to send TU-QRZ, I was still busy copying the time to the
> logger. Then Don AA5AU called me, and his exchange was different:
>
> 599 123 2359 123 2359
>
> I received both pieces of information early in the message and had plenty
> of time to copy them. When he finished sending, I was ready for the next
> QSO. This saved both stations a little bit of time, perhaps a second or so,
> but seconds in the contests add up very quickly. I learned my lesson and
> changed my exchange to this new format. Thank you, Don!
>
> 73 Alex VE3NEA
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