[UK-CONTEST] CW ops and reports

[G3SJJ]

Jeez, it's a bit difficult to keep one's cool with this one Phil.

Yes, as has been said several times here, it's all about thinking on 
your feet and reacting accordingly. Therefore you alter your style, 
speed, anything, to get the most effective exchange. No one is arguing 
against that.

The observation is that because SD has F2 by default progammed to His 
Call plus Exchange, people are using that when they don't need to.

You have totally mis-understood the reference to "Industry Standard." 
This is nothing to do with the individual operator, it refers to the 
historical way logging programs have been written to deal with sending 
and logging information.

K1EA's CT set the standard some 20 years ago. When running, you entered 
the call, pressed the large Insert key, this picked up the Call and the 
contents of F2 (Exchange), after entering the incoming exchange you hit 
large Plus which logged the contact and sent the content of F3. Search 
and Pounce just needed F4 to send your call then F2 for the exchange. 
Many of us used that program, in fact I used it for the last two NFDs 
with the Lichfield guys. At home I changed to K8CC's NA logging program 
around 1990, which was based on CT, but was slightly better in my 
opinion. I then changed to Writelog (on your suggestion if you recall) 
which also used the same standard for exchanges. Wintest is also based 
on CT.

Therefore CT, NA, WL, Wintest, N1MM (almost) all use the same format for 
exchange, what I have termed Industry Standard.

SD on the other hand, as Paul indicated, not only doesn't use Insert 
key, but also has a different default configuration for the F keys.

Ergonomically, I suspect, people go for the first few F keys, and 
therefore whilst Paul has allowed for S&P Exchange without His Call, 
they have adopted using F2 since it is in that first few. This then has 
created an environment where some operators are sending something which 
many people recognise as an unnecessary exchange.

By way of proof, in N1MM I have all F keys programmed with some message 
in, apart from F11 which of course is Wipe. I found, however that I 
seldom use them sticking to the first five for anything I need, ie 
F1=CQ, F2= Exch, F3=TU/My Call, F4=MyCall, F5=HisCall. Anything else can 
be sent on the external keyer anyway. By the way, I have a printed & 
laminated F key strip which has served me well with CT/NA/WL/N1MM, ie 
the Industry Standard!!

I have to say I think your last suggestion shows a degree of immaturity, 
but am prepared for it anyway!

Chris G3SJJ



Phil Cooper wrote:

>Hi all,
>
>What attitudes displayed by some folk! And such a blinkered attitude at
>that.
>
>There were one or two instances on Thursday evening when I (while S&P'ing)
>sent CALL TU 599 001 001 BK purely because there were two (or more) stations
>VERY close together, and whilst I was correctly netted on to the station I
>was calling, others were not!
>On one occasion, I called a particular G4, only to hear another station
>respond to my call.
>This meant - to be sure I was logged by the correct call - that I sent the
>exchange as above.
>
>To say there is an "industry standard" is total bull. You have to work what
>you can, and make sure you get logged by the right call! If that means
>sending G3ABC TU 599 001 001 DE GU0SUP then that is what I will do!
>I also had to judge whether to send the serial once or twice in the
>sequence, and opted for twice, due to the high level of activity, and the
>fact that the first couple of QSO's ended up with me repeating the number
>anyway.
>
>Of course, there is one option for us all in the next CW leg! When you come
>across one of the moaners, go overboard and send something like G3ABC DE
>GU0SUP TU ES GE OM UR RST 599 NR 001 001 G3ABC DE GU0SUP AR KN and see what
>happens!
>That could slow the rate of many a G3 !!
>
>Ah well, it's only a hobby, and only a bit of fun anyway!
>
>73 all
>
>Phil GU0SUP
>
>
>
>  
>