On 8/21/2011 4:09 PM, Jeffrey Angus wrote:
Having finally gotten back on the air after a substantial
absence, I noticed a rather disturbing trend especially
with the PSK mode.

If I stick with the macros, "My station is" "My software
is" and so forth, the other end of the contact will stick
around until he runs out of macro buttons to click on.

If I come back immediately with a hand typed line of
conversation, they sign 73 almost immediately.

Please don't tell me to go down on CW, it's the same
problem down there. Albeit not as much. Same thing on
SSB.

It's like they're reading from a teleprompter and if you
get out of sequence, they go completely blank.

If the whole thing about amateur radio is communicating,
how come so many people can't seem to communicate?

Jeff-1.0
wa6fwi



I usually open with the macros, but add only a line or two of hand typed
during that part of the QSO.


One thing you need to remember, on a bad day I type 50 WPM, on a good
day closer to 100,, I worked as a police dispatcher for 25 years, A good
portion of that job involved typing on a computer terminal of one kind
or another ranging from an IBM 101 key type keyboard to a Teletype model
28 ASR. (How I got to 100 WPM) plus I spend hours day in forums on the
internet.. Doing a lot of typing there (Hit 10,000 messges in one I
joined a few years ago) You QSO with me and even if I hand type
EVERYTHING you will not see too many back spaces or "Dead air" where
it's sending just "MARK".

Many folks are 2-finger typists, 10 WPM that I claimed when I got the
dispatcher job is FASTER than they can type. Thus when they run out of
macros... Well.. I could send for PIZZA and in the time it would have
taken them to type this message... I'd be eating.