[UK-CONTEST] Software Poll

[Ian White GM3SEK]

Bob Henderson wrote:
>>In this example you type 'M3A', then press Enter, so wouldn't 'M3A' + 
>>exchange get transmitted? How would the software know you were going 
>>to append BC to the callsign field after you hit Enter?
>
>The call is entered into a FIFO buffer.  Once triggered, it sends until 
>it's empty.  So long as you get the necessary characters in before 
>they're due to be sent they should be sent.
>

All is not lost, because the program also monitors the callsign field 
for any further changes. The first thing it will notice would be any 
additional characters coming in late from the keyboard. It then 
continues to monitor for any callsign corrections you need to make. If 
there have been any changes, it inserts the corrected callsign ahead of 
the 'TU' message.

N1MM certainly does that, and I feel sure SD will do the same.

The advantage of type-ahead is that it makes a start on sending a 
response, and reduces the risk of the station calling again in that 
period of dead silence while you're still typing. It's especially 
helpful in contests where /P callsigns may run to 7 or 8 characters.


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73 from Ian GM3SEK