Hello Mike...
Welcome to the world of RTTY. It looks like you have already ingested
some of the proper lingo... "brag file"! :-)
"In the old days" when mechanical printers and the Mainline TTL were the
devices that allowed fellows to operate RTTY, there were axillary units
that would create and play "paper tapes". The old geezers, I mean the
original operators would create a variety of tapes, one for calling CQ,
another for the first round of information exchange, and so on. But
there was that "other tape" that described all the equipment, including
the last time the polar relay was replaced, that could be hung on the
TD. It was the "brag tape". It didn't go into as much detail as the
fellow you recently encountered though... there just wasn't all that
amount of equipment to describe, although they might throw in the name
of their dog/cat/wife & kids. These tapes came in handy for when the
call of nature arose. The longest brag tape could be grabbed from the
nail on the wall, hung on the TD, and a quick dash could be made "down
the hall".
On the other hand, you may have run into a PSK operator... I understand
they can be quite verbose at times! :-)
One of the unique aspects of RTTY that has been lost to the modern
configurations is "RTTY Art". These were "pictures" that were composed
by judicious selection of characters and overprinting a single line to
create a shading effect. Somewhere around here I have an example that I
printed. It was about 2 feet long, a "picture" of a Playboy Playmate.
I'm thinking I might have to list this item on eBay soon, in order to
supplement my retirement income! Oh, and yes, I am one of the early
geezers, having my first RTTY contact in 1964.
73 de Bob - KØRC in MN
On 3/1/2011 7:00 AM, Mike Tessmer wrote:
> I'm a recent newcomer to the world or RTTY. Question on the practice of brag
> files.
>
> I recently had a QSO on 40m where the other station immediately went into a
> disertation about his whole station and a complete rundown on his computer
> including brand, model, memory, speed, etc., (including wireless keyboard and
> wireless mouse!) I might have expected to hear about his radio and 40m
> antenna since we were working on 40m - I didn't expect to hear about his 30m
> antenna and antennas for all the other bands as well. And I don't think I've
> ever had a QSO on phone or cw where we've exchanged detailed info on the
> computer setting on the desk....unless we got way into a QSO.
>
> Anyway...
>
> - Why is it apparently important to some ops that I know every detail about
> the computer they are using?
> - Why is it apparently important to some ops that I know every detail about
> their entire station?
>
> While I find this all mildly annoying, I ask this not to be critical but more
> for seeking enlightenment as to how/why this practice started. I know not
> everyone does this.
>
> Thanks!
>
>
> 73, Mike K9NW
>
>
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