‰  NOW 40 WPM  ‰  TEXT IS FROM MARCH 2006 QST  PAGES 79 AND 43  ‰

THE WORLD ABOVE 50 MHZ WHAT IS A CONTACT?  EXACTLY 50 YEARS AGO ED TILTON,
W1HDQ, ASKED THE SAME QUESTION IN THE WORLD ABOVE 50 MC.  HE HAD TOUCHED
UPON IT NUMEROUS TIMES IN THE PAST IN DISCUSSING MARGINAL TYPES OF VHF
COMMUNICATION SUCH AS METEOR SCATTER AND IONOSCATTER.  IN HIS MARCH 1957
COLUMN HE DEFINES IT AS THE EXCHANGE OF USEFUL INFORMATION STANDARDIZED ON
TWO STAGE PROCEDURE POSITIVE IDENTIFICATION OF CALLS AT BOTH ENDS, AND THE
COMPLETE EXCHANGE OF SIGNAL REPORTS.  HOW THE QSO IS ARRANGED TEMPORALLY
AND THE NATURE OF THE SIGNAL REPORT CAN VARY BUT IDENTIFICATION AND
EXCHANGE OF INFORMATION ARE ABSOLUTE REQUIREMENTS.  AS FOR HOW LONG IT
COULD TAKE TO COMPLETE THE QSO HE SAID, SO LONG AS IT IS A CONTINUOUS
EFFORT, ONLY THE ENDURANCE OF THE TWO PARTICIPANTS MATTERS.  ALTHOUGH HE
DID DRAW THE LINE AT CONTACTS COUNTING PART OF AN EXCHANGE FROM ONE DAY AND
ANOTHER PART THE NEXT.  HOW ABOUT USING A TAPE RECORDER INSERT DIGITAL
RECORDER HERE FOR YOU HIGH TECH TYPES?  HE WAS QUITE EMPHATIC HERE
RECORDING FOR DEMONSTRATION LATER, AND FOR POSTERITY, IS FINE.  WERE ALL
FOR IT.  BUT IF YOU HAVE TO PLAY BACK A RECORDING TO SEE IF A CONTACT HAS
‰  FROM PAGE 43  ‰
AC5VN KG6MBA NN7C WB7NQW KI7WK N8KCG KC8UTW W9JBL W0AI W0QT KB5ILY KD5VTV
AD6ME W7CNN N7NVP W7WM K8KDR N8UUI K9JSH K0AMZ KL0QW W5IM KC5WBG WB6MFV
NO7C WB7NXH WA7WNM KB8KET N8UVH WT9J KA0ARS K0RFI N5IPJ KD5WDK AA6MR AC7CP
‰  QST DE W1AW  ƒ

BEEN MADE, YOU HAVENT MADE ONE.  YOU MUST COPY INFORMATION, AND KNOW THAT
YOUVE COPIED IT, BEFORE YOU CAN TRUTHFULLY SEND THE R R R R R THAT WILL
CONCLUDE THE QSO.  TO THIS DAY WE STILL FOLLOW THE SAME GENERAL OUTLINE BUT
WITH A FEW CHANGES.  EXCHANGE OF SIGNAL REPORTS HAS COME TO MEAN EXCHANGE
OF AT LEAST ONE SPECIFIC PIECE OF INFORMATION BEYOND THE OTHER STATIONS
CALL SIGN.  THIS CAN BE AN ACTUAL SIGNAL REPORT IN ONE OF SEVERAL FORMATS,
AN ABBREVIATION FOR A SIGNAL REPORT LIKE OOO, WHICH MEANS FULL COPY BUT AT
A VERY WEAK SIGNAL LEVEL, A GRID LOCATOR OR WHATEVER.  IN ADDITION ONCE THE
CONTACT SEQUENCE HAS BEGUN, THERE CAN BE NO COMMUNICATION BETWEEN THE
PARTICIPANTS BY SOME OTHER MEANS LIKE THE TELEPHONE, THE INTERNET OR SOME
OTHER AMATEUR FREQUENCY, HF OR VHF.  IF YOU COMMUNICATE DURING THE CONTACT,
YOU HAVE TO START ALL OVER AGAIN FROM THE BEGINNING.  CURRENT PROCEDURES
FOR SSB/CW METEOR SCATTER CONTACTS WE FOLLOW THE PROCEDURES IN TABLE 1 IN
EACH OF THE NEXT THREE TABLES THE SYMBOL INDICATES TO REPEAT THE ENTIRE
‰  FROM PAGE 43  ‰
K7OER N7WR KC8KEY WX8U N9JZX N0AX KC0RFN KM5IX KB5WEV W6MSU AD7CP KA7OES
W7WVF K8KHZ W8UY KB9KEG W0AYO AB0RG WB5IZD AB5WF K6MXD KD7CPV N7OGM W7WWS

BECAUSE THERE WAS NO IDENTIFICATION OF CALL SIGNS.  BY EXTENSION, SO LONG
AS WE AGREE THAT DIGITAL COMMUNICATION SUCH AS FSK441 AND JT65 IS REAL AND
ESSENTIALLY EVERYONE DOES THERE SHOULD BE NO IMPEDIMENT TO USING MACHINES
RATHER THAN THE HUMAN EAR TO DETECT SIGN
‰  FROM PAGE 43  ‰
KD5JJP KB5WY N6NKZ W7DAV WH7O KC7YLH AB8LA WB8VUU N9KT N0BN KM0R K5JKB
‰  END OF 40 WPM TEXT  ‚