VE2FK
User
Platinum Boarder
Posts: 2241 | | Karma: 22
|
WAE CW with QTC - 2015/07/21 18:35
(Franki ON5ZO/OQ5M wrote this on the fly to someone asking about first time on WAE with QTC on CW)
WAE CW QTC - let's do a short walk through.
Apart from the QTC game, it's just a serial number contest between EU and DX (i.e. non-WAE countries). You do not need to send QTC if you're not in it to put down a big score but of course the demand from EU will be huge. And we appreciate the QTCs. DX (i.e. non-EU) can offer the EU to send QTC or accept a request initiated by a EU station.
Some sound files available I received many years ago but I forgot from whom: http://users.telenet.be/on5zo/audio/QTC.zip
Let's assume I run and you call me.
CQ OQ5M TEST = I call CQ VE2 = you reply VE2 5NN 123 = my exchange to you 5NN 123 = your exchange to me QTC? = me asking if you have QTC for me, I will most likely always ask (unless we already exchanged 10 QTC)
If you don't have any QTC to send, OR you just don't care to send QTC at all OR you only have some available (<10) but prefer to send them in a series of ten (the max you can send to a station), then you can just reply with SRI, NO, QRU, LTR or however you want to disappoint me. ;o)
But if you do want to accept my request and exchange QTC, the default to send is something like:
QTC 75/10 = example number, this is the 75th batch of QTC you send in the contest, and you'll be sending 10 QTC to me. Could also be 75/5 if you currently only have 5 available to send The program should send this automatically (never tried from non-EU side). I enter this in my log so the program knows you'll be sending me a batch of 10 QTC. The 75 is for logging/log check purposes.
QRV = me telling you that I'm ready for the 1st QTC to come, ready to copy and software in the 'QTC RX mode'
0001 DL1A 86 = the QTC you send to me, which means that in YOUR log you have worked DL1A at 0001 utc and he gave you #86
After this first QTC string is sent, you wait and stand by for the EU to send a R, which means you can proceed to the next QTC. If I didn't copy, I ask fr CL? or NR? for a partial repeat or AGN? for a full repeat. You can chose to send what I ask or just resend the whole QTC. Please take care NOT to send the next QTC before you get a R or CFM for the current QTC. We must not let the software get out of synch because this is a mess. Ask me how I know. Or rather don't. ;o)
After the last QTC is sent, I will probably send 'CFM TU OQ5M' to confirm the QTC, thank you for that and let the world know that I'm ready for the next caller.
This is the blueprint of most QTC-related contacts. I hope this makes the general procedure a little clearer? Without bugs or glitches, the program is supposed to handle this almost 100% automatically, especially the DX side. There are a few die hard QTC exchangers here who can tell you more about the specific setup issues to send and keep track of QTC.
Please note that you can send anything between 1 to 10 QTC at a time to a single station but the total QTC to a given station cannot exceed 10. You can send 4 on 10m, 3 on 15m, 2 on 20m and 1 on 40m. The program always shows how many QTC you can still send to (DX) or receive from (EU) a call.
IMPORTANT: you can also call me to offer QTC without a (dupe) QSO. If we worked on 20m before and didn't exchange QTC but now you hear me run and want to dump some QTC, we can just skip the serial numbers (= no QSO) and actually just log the QTC. That way you can send ALL your QSO as a QTC. Because if I'm the last station you work for a QSO, you cannot send the QTC back to me (rules?). You can look for someone you worked before that still can take QTC from you, and send the QSO with me as a QTC without making a new QSO that would make a new possible QTC. You probably need to read this twice for it to make sense, it was Pete N4ZR who learned me that trick many years ago ;o)
I will test the EU side ASAP when time permits.
73 de Franki ON5ZO / OQ5M
|