[SCCC] Fwd: Help with new style cut numbers

[Dennis Younker NE6I]

Vacuum tube? What's that, Hank?  (Joking!)

Love these descriptions of early memory keyers! Creative bunch, we
contesters!

--Dennis NE6I

-----Original Message-----
From: SCCC [mailto:sccc-bounces at contesting.com] On Behalf Of Hank Garretson
Sent: Monday, February 20, 2017 1:57 PM
To: SCCC
Subject: [SCCC] Fwd: Help with new style cut numbers

Got a note back from sccc-owner saying, "The message's content type was not
explicitly allowed"

Possibly because of an embedded picture. I have removed the picture. Hope it
makes it this time.



Good post by historian Kurt.

Back in the late fifties, I had a CQ "wheel" using a reel-to-reel tape
recorder with a home-brew vacuum-tube (remember vacuum tubes!?) rectifier to
key my Viking Ranger. I spliced the tape to make a perhaps ten-foot loop
which ran through the tape recorder and hung from a hook in the ceiling. I
still have the switch I used to turn the CQ on and off.

Contest Exuberantly,

Hank, W6SX



---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: W6PH via SCCC <sccc at contesting.com>
Date: Mon, Feb 20, 2017 at 2:18 AM
Subject: Re: [SCCC] Help with new style cut numbers
To: cowchip at ca.rr.com, sccc at contesting.com

I'm not sure about the RR.  The TTT is short for three zeros.   For those
of us who have been around the block a few times, we will remember  when
there were real 579 reports followed by three digits for the power.   There
were
very few people with KW's back then (1000 watt input).  KH6IJ  always sent
three zeros for his power.

Historically the "cut" number for zero is not the letter T but a long dash.
The first time I recall someone using N for 9 was CR6AI in a contest back in
the early 60's.  Common usage came much later.  The first time that I recall
a station sending 599 to all stations was VP1JH in British  Honduras (now
Belize) operated by Bob Denniston (W0NWX and VP2VA later) using a rotary
disk (like a 78 record) with cuts in the edge to operate a microswitch as  a
"memory keyer".  This was back in the 60's as well.

The dit for five, A for one, etc are fairly recent in the last five  years
or so.  Personally I am not a fan of the cut numbers other than N for  9 and
a long dash for zero.

I was able to program a prolonged dash for zero in my exchange this weekend
with Win-Test by putting three minus signs before the TT in the macro
(5NN1---TT+++) when sending 5nn1tt.

Kind of a Paul Harvey "rest of the story".  Comments about the  accuracy are
welcome.

73, Kurt W6PH  aka VP9/W6PH
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