[GreenKeys] ARRL RTTY contest

[Jim Haynes]

Sure seems that way to me.  But I guess "RTTY" is now just a short
name for 45.5 baud Baudot code using 170 Hz FSK.

Back in the late 1950s I enjoyed the RTTY contests, but one of the reasons
I enjoyed them was that there were only two a year, not one every weekend.
And the number of participants was limited by the availability of
Teletype machines.

There were one or two stations using a semblance of today's style of
computer operation.  They had a couple of the multi-headed MXD tape
readers set up with tapes for CQ and QRZ and answering a CQ and
confirming a contact.  So they mostly just pushed buttons except for
the call sign of the station they were contacting.  It irritated me
that they always gave a 599 report instead of an accurate report.

One call sign I distinctly remember - W1ZXA - was about the hardest
one to type that I ever encountered.  All little fingers of the left
hand except for the LTRS after the 1.

I've never been a contest enthusiast, but in the old RTTY contests I was
operating the University of Arkansas club station W5YM.  We were about
the only active RTTY station in the state of Arkansas, so everybody wanted
to work us for the state multiplier.  And then it was just a chance to 
wave the flag for our state and school.  Those factors made it seem fun.