[RTTY] Upside-down RTTY contest QSO's

Mon Feb 13 14:55:31 EST 2017

Sadly, the ARRL's Contest Update email newsletter had this in the January
11 edition's Conversation" section.  Quoting in part:

"In last weekend's ARRL RTTY Roundup, as in past contests, I encountered
some non-standard exchanges. .....

"A number of times in response to my CQ I received "N9ADG <THEIRCALL> 599
<THEIRSTATE>". This was off-putting the first few times. I treated them as
if they'd only sent me their call -- I sent them my exchange, waited for
their exchange, and then acknowledged theirs. This happened a few times,
and getting the same unexpected message from a number of different callers
caused me to consider why those operators were doing this. In that
consideration, I've come around to thinking that perhaps these callers are
on to something.

"If I could make the assumption that the calling station wouldn't send me
their exchange unless they were sure of mine, then all I really needed was
their information. Implicit in them sending this message type as the
response to my CQ is their acknowledgement that they have my information.
In response to their information, all I really needed to do was acknowledge
theirs. So I tested this theory - the next time I called CQ and got back
this exchange, I sent "<THEIRCALL> 599 WA TU N9ADG CQ". The sky didn't
fall. The caller didn't seem to get confused. More contacts got logged.

"This technique, if executed correctly, could *save time and increase the
rate for both sides*. That description applies to other techniques that are
commonly accepted and used, like tail-ending, single-dit QSLs, and call
stacking. As reflected in the soapbox comments in the after-contest
reports, there are some operators that don't like this development. But perhaps
this is the emergence of a new RTTY technique."
Then, in the January 25 issue's Busted QSO's section: "N8SS, K9YC, and N0AX
all wrote in to discourage any non-standard or shortened exchanges."

Hopefully, this will not become a growing trend.

Tim K9WX

On Mon, Feb 13, 2017 at 2:16 PM, Jeff AC0C <keepwalking188 at ac0c.com> wrote:

> Bet this this is more new guys jumping into their first contest.  Or maybe
> new to the logger in RTTY.  What surprises me is that guys get so far into
> this without figuring out the proper sequence.  I remember one fellow was
> at a 2xx Q count!  Then again it may be a case of hitting the wrong button.
>
> My solution to this backward sequence is to send my end of the exchange,
> and then flow right into a CQ, exactly as Tim shows below.  About 25-50% of
> the time the guy sends some sort of TSK message and I reply again with the
> TU WPX AC0C CQ call.  Have not had any frequency ownership confusion that I
> know of.
>
> 73/jeff/ac0c
> www.ac0c.com
> alpha-charlie-zero-charlie
>
> -----Original Message----- From: john at kk9a.com
> Sent: Monday, February 13, 2017 12:32 PM
>
> To: rtty at contesting.com
> Subject: Re: [RTTY] Upside-down RTTY contest QSO's
>
> I noticed this in Roundup last month and now in WPX, except I do not
> recall seeing my callsign in their exchange, just their call and a report.
> I typically ignore these callers for a while, trying to figure out if they
> are calling me or working someone else on frequency. If they are
> persistent then I assume that they are calling me and I gave them a report
> and they disappear. I am not sure where they are learning these habits,
> perhaps good QSO examples should be shown in the rules.
>
> John KK9A
>
>
> To: <rtty at contesting.com>
> Subject: Re: [RTTY] Upside-down RTTY contest QSO's
> From: "David G3YYD" <g3yyd at btinternet.com>
> Date: Mon, 13 Feb 2017 17:55:01 -0000
>
>
> I have a simple solution. If someone does this then I ignore them and carry
> on CQ or work another caller. Ok I may lose a Q but it is the only quick
> way
> to educate someone.
>
> I find ignoring them is essential when I am SO2R contesting as I may well
> be
> working 2 pile ups at the same time and need to keep the sequence going.
>
> 73 David G3YYD aka M7T in contests.
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: RTTY [mailto:rtty-bounces at contesting.com] On Behalf Of Tim Shoppa
> Sent: 13 February 2017 17:41
> To: rtty at contesting.com
> Subject: [RTTY] Upside-down RTTY contest QSO's
>
> I had maybe 20-30 callers this weekend (out of 1600+ Q's) who had what I
> call "upside down" exchanges.
>
> I call: CQ CQ TEST N3QE N3QE CQ
>
> These upside down guys come back to my CQ with: N3QE DE F1AKE 599 014 014
> 014
>
> Yes, that's right, he doesn't just send his call, he sends his exchange in
> reply to my CQ.
>
> I then reply with my usual macro: F1AKE 599 1245 1245 F1AKE
>
> Then, well, things kinda fall apart. Sometimes the guy just disappears,
> after all he did get both sides of the exchange. Other times he comes back
> with: N3QE TU DE F1AKE SK
>
> Then anyone listening in is confused. Does N3QE own the run frequency or
> F1AKE? It's not at all obvious.
>
> I first encountered this unusual upside-down style when I was at the
> "Digital modes" Field Day desk a few years ago.  On field day, maybe 30% of
> RTTY Q's and more than half of the PSK31 QSO's had this upside-down style.
> I would guess that there's some common digital-mode software package that
> suggests this as the default S&P exchange macro, or maybe the
> software-package doesn't even differentiate between RUN and S&P Macros.
>
> Is there any hope of educating these guys? They seem to be increasingly
> prevalent in contests. I wanted to start lecturing these guys over RTTY as
> to what they're doing wrong but didn't want to waste the time, and maybe
> they're using some dumb software that has to work this way or something.
>
> I feel that very related, I would be running a frequency, working a guy,
> not
> even close to done working him, and some local guys who I know are PSK
> enthusiasts would show up on the frequency and call the guy with an
> exchange, acting like they had NO IDEA what phase the QSO or who was
> running
> the frequency.
>
> Tim N3QE
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