Rowland,
IMO, what you describe is "part of the game" or "the penalty everyone
suffers" when conditions are less than ideal. And I agree with you, the next
static crash or fade seems to be timed perfect... If I only had those odds
in the Lottery!
Resending only the specific character missing from the exchange sounds like
a reasonable approach, but my preference is to have the entire variable part
of the exchange resent to me. In your example of 3<QRN>9, the 3 and 9
provide the exchange boundaries and the timing for me. As you know, numbers
always contain 5 elements. You can miss any two elements within a number and
still decode a number (if the code is sent at a uniform speed). In this
case, the 3 and 9 provide synchronization to help anticipate the missing
elements.
Another aspect regarding filling in the missing element is I do not use an
external keyer during a contest. Everything is programmed into the
contesting macros. For me, sending a single missing element from a report
disrupts the normal flow during a contest exchange. It's easier (less hand
motion and less chance of sending error) to press F8 once or twice to resend
the contest exchange (without the 599) than to reach for the keyer, figure
out what is missing, and manually key that element.
During CW contesting my hands never leave the keyboard. This is similar to
using a headset and foot switch (or VOX) during SSB contests instead of a
hand-held microphone. A considerable amount of time and energy is wasted if
you have to pick up a microphone, push the PTT button, speak the exchange,
set the mic back down, and then move your hands to the keyboard to enter a
callsign.
73 de Bob - KØRC in MN
----- Original Message -----
From: <Rowland.Archer@gxs.com>
To: <cq-contest@contesting.com>
Sent: Monday, August 11, 2008 10:18 AM
Subject: [CQ-Contest] Fills and repeats
> Hi folks,
>
> While asking for "nr nr" over and over this weekend on WAE CW, it occurred
> to me that I didn't know any "standard" practice for asking for the JUST
> that one digit or letter I'm missing. Nothing more frustrating than
> something like this sequence:
>
> You: K4XD ur 5NN 3<QRN>9
> Me: NR NR?
> You: 5NN 3<fade>9, 3<static crash>
> Me: AGN NR?
> You: NR 5NN 3<fade>
> Me: 3?9 3?9
> You: ur 5NN 3<crash>9 5NN 3<fade>
>
> You get the picture. I keep hearing the stuff I don't need, and not
> hearing that one bit of information I'm lacking. Only once this weekend
> did I hear someone try to specify the single digit he was missing -- he
> sent "NR 3 NR 3?" to indicate he was missing the 3rd digit.
>
> I would think sending 3?9 would indicate "please just send the number
> between 3 and 9" but it seldom works, people resend the whole sequence
> most of the time, or send 5NN very slowly just in case I missed that part!
> It is frustrating to hear the parts you already know coming through
> clearly, knowing you would have the missing info if they were sending that
> instead of what you already copied.
>
> Any advice from the brain trust? (Besides better antennas!)
>
> 73,
> Rowland K4XD
>
>
>
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> CQ-Contest mailing list
> CQ-Contest@contesting.com
> http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/cq-contest
>
_______________________________________________
CQ-Contest mailing list
CQ-Contest@contesting.com
http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/cq-contest
|