At 05:30 PM 5/25/97 -0400, Randy Thompson wrote:
>I hate these cut numbers. I never know if the guy sent 'T' for zero, or
did I
>miss a dot of 'N' for nine? I would just as soon have everyone send 5NN and
>then send the full numbers. But I see this as a trend that will keep
getting
>worse before it gets better. It seems to be all the rage in Europe.
Here's another way of looking at it -- I find that I have no trouble with a
single cut number (or a repeated number, like NN in 5NN) when it is clearly
in a numerical context. But the context is the key, and when there are too
many cut numbers, it might as well be Cyrillic CW... I think this is why
most people have no trouble with 5NN, or with O ("oh") instead of a zero.
but if you use A, N, E and T, there are almost bound to be double cut
numbers in every second or third serial number. Add a little QRN or a weak
signal ...
For what little it's worth, my solution is to use "oh" instead of zero ONLY
in serial numbers, and use "N" only in signal reports.
BV (73 - honest!),
94ZR (N4ZR)
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