[RTTY] One Pet Peeve

[Dave Hachadorian]

I usually send everything once, especially if the exchange is 
something simple, like "DAVE AZ."

I participate in a lot of contests, and most people already know 
that I am DAVE AZ.  Serious RTTY contesters should also be 
running a call history.  The Arizona Outlaws Contest Club web 
site is a good source of these call histories.  You should also 
be doing verification of the copy by listening to signal strength 
of the signal in your headphones, correlating that with copy on 
the screen.  If the signal goes into a fade, trust the copy less. 
If the signal is solid, once is enough.  I try to be loud, so 
once is enough most of the time.  If you are using a call 
history, and the signal goes into a fade, and you copy "MAVE RZ," 
and your call history says DAVE AZ, go with it.  It is not a 
moral failing to do this.  You may lose the QSO if you are wrong, 
which is an appropriate penalty for your slipshod behavior, but 
you are not getting condemned to hell for eternity.  Shannon's 
communications theory points out that, if the message is 
predictable, reliability of the communication is much improved, 
because random hits have low impact.  Call history improves 
predictability.

In sending the exchange just once, I also minimize the use of 
FIGS/LTRS shifts.  For example, I send "599-356 AZ" where the 
dash between the 599 and 356 keeps that whole sequence in FIGS 
mode, rather than interjecting a FIGS/LTRS or LTRS/FIGS shift. 
(Dash is a FIGS character.)  There is a downside to this 
procedure, but over the years I have found that it is more 
reliable to use this technique, especially with more and more 
people using 2Tone.  For some reason, based on my experience, 
2Tone copies FIGS slightly better than MMTTY.

Dave Hachadorian, K6LL
Big Bear Lake, CA