ORIGINAL MESSAGE:
On Mon, 28 Sep 2009 10:27:37 -0700, Kok Chen <chen@mac.com> wrote:
> I have already earlier mentioned that a dash
>works equally well whether you use USOS, and its use is completely
>USOS-neutral, working equally well between folks who use USOS and
>folks that do not, while the space delimiter produces "miss shifts"
>between USOS and non-USOS systems that cannot be resolved even after
>an indefinite number of exchange repeats.
REPLY:
It finally clicked on me (pun intended) what is wrong with your analysis. In all
your examples, you are sending only ONE exchange element, in this case, the
zone. Example: 599-25
I will agree that if you send only 599-25 then it makes little difference
whether you use USOS or a hyphen instead of a space. One busted FIGS character
at the wrong place will print as TOOAWT. However, nearly all contesters send
more than one, i.e. 599-25-25 or even 599-25-25-25. This is where the use of
space in place of the hyphen shines. With 599 25 25 (no hyphen) it would take
TWO busted FIGS shift characters in exactly the wrong place to make the exchange
unreadable. With 599 25 25 25 it would take three. Even I am not that unlucky.
But don't take my word. Try a contest with spaces instead of hyphens and see if
the number of requests for repeats takes a significant drop. That has been my
experience and that of many other contesters as well.
73, Bill W6WRT
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