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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


--
"Everything from Crackers to Coffins"

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On Sun, 21 Aug 2011 16:09:20 EDT, Jeffrey Angus
wrote:

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.

In the Portland area, we have a weekly 10-meter PSK net where we
actually have conversations about the things that happened to us that
week. Really. 28.110 - 8pm PT.
--

73 de K2ASP - Phil Kane

From a Clearing in the Silicon Forest
Beaverton (Washington County) Oregon

e-mail: k2asp [at] arrl [dot] net

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In Jeffrey Angus
wrote:

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

Some people can, some can't, some choose not to.

Try JT65A on HF some time; you couldn't have a free-form QSO if you
wanted to.

You might just be running into a lot of folks who can't type. Or maybe a
run of QSOs with people who are just punching their WAS or DXCC tickets.

I got my RCC certificate when I was a kid; I spent hours on 6 meter AM
and later 2 meter FM with friends in the neighborhood.

Right now, I consider myself a CW DXer and most of my QSOs are 15
seconds long, if that.

For the last few months though, I've been playing with digital modes,
JT65A being the flavor of the month, which is becoming boring real fast.

I'm getting ready to buy a microphone and try some of that new-fangled
SSB stuff I've heard so much about.

It all runs in cycles, either your own or every one else's.

--
Bert Hyman W0RSB St. Paul, MN

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On Sun, 21 Aug 2011 23:00:45 EDT, Bert wrote:

In Jeffrey Angus
wrote:

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

Some people can, some can't, some choose not to.

Sometimes the circumstances dictate whether to rag-chew or run quick
contacts.

About 10 years ago, I visited ARRL headquarters and got a chance to
operate W1AW. Once I started transmitting, there were so many people
waiting to make a contact that rag-chewing was impossible.

A few years ago I was operating PSK31 during Field Day, an event with
quick contacts and the quicker the better. But about 4 AM, there were
very few stations on the air and those that were I had already worked.
FInally, I contacted someone who was as bored as I was, and we had a
delightful 15-minute QSO.

Dick Grady, AC7EL

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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.