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Subj: Copiability and Strength as an alternative to RST
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Copyability and Strength:
A New Proposed Signal Report System
CS Copyability and Strength Signal Report System
C or Copyability Scale
X = no discernible signal
0 = discernible but not copyable
1 = 10% copyable
2 = 20% copyable
3 = 30% copyable
4 = 40% copyable
5 = 50% copyable
6 = 60% copyable
7 = 70% copyable
8 = 80% copyable
9 = 90% copyable
D = 100% copyable with Difficulty
M = 100% copyable with Minor difficulty
P = Perfect armchair 100% copyable or full-quieting on FM
"X" is used for "no discernible signal" instead of "N," since "N" is an
abbreviation for "9."
Signal Strength or S-Meter Scale
0 = no S-meter reading
1 = S-1
2 = S-2
3 = S-3
4 = S-4
5 = S-5
6 = S-6
7 = S-7
8 = S-8
9 = S-9
A = 1 to 10 dB over S-9
B = 11 to 20 dB over S-9
C = 21 to 30 dB over S-9
D = 31 to 40 dB over S-9
E = 41 to 50 dB over S-9
F = more than 50 dB over S-9
Optional Suffixes
X = characteristic steadiness of crystal (Xtal) control
R = AC Ripple or buzz in transmission
C = Chirp or tail on make and/or break
K = key clicKs or other keying transients
S = Spectrum overuse in phone or digital modes
Examples:
- A CW signal which is 70% copyable, with an S-meter reading of 2, and with key
clicks: 72K
- A USB signal which is perfectly copyable, with an S-meter reading of 35 dB
over S-9, and is overmodulated: PDS
- A PSK31 signal which is perfectly copyable, but with an S-meter reading of 1:
P1
-Okay, hearing no emergency or priority traffic, the Great Lakes Retreads Net
is ready for this evening's roll-call. This is Kilo Alpha Nine Romeo Victor
November, in Elmhurst. We'll start with Akron, W8GYB.-
"K . . .VN this . . . skey eight . . . kee Bra . . . . ffic . . . net."
-W8GYB, Kyle, it's good to hear your voice. I haven't heard you on for a few
weeks. You're 6 on the S-meter, but we have loud static crashes here, so I'm
only copying about half of what you're saying. Would you mind switching on your
linear?-
-Fine, Susan, KA9RVN this is Whiskey Eight Golf Yankee Bravo. I'm running the
air conditioner, so I didn't fire up the linear the first time. You're armchair
copy here and 10 over 9, so I thought I didn't need extra power. No traffic for
the net. Over.-
Genuine Signal Reporting
That's the way the most useful signal reports are given these days. We need to
know how much of our transmission the other operator can copy and how strong
our signal is. This article proposes a new signal reporting system which meets
real communication needs. The "CS" or Copyability and Strength system is
designed to replace the now-antiquated RST and RS signal reports, which are
commonly used - even overused -- and very frequently misused. Most contest and
DXpedition operators send 599 or 59 for all contacts. Signal reports are not
required for DX Century Club or CQ Worked All Continents or CQ Worked All Zones
or CQ DX or USA-CA or Worked All States awards. They are also not required for
Field Day or Sweepstakes. Stereotyped signal reports serve no useful purpose in
the quick exchanges which contesters and DXers require. Indeed, since signal
reporting is not needed for valid QSOs, all signal reports, including this
proposed CS system, should be dropped from DXpedition operations, and contest
and award sponsors should either drop all signal report requirements or replace
them with more interesting and useful exchanges. For example, an important
aspect of DXpedition administration is correlating the time recorded in the
DXpedition log with the time reported on QSL cards. A very useful exchange
would be the time of the DX QSO, perhaps abbreviated to a 2-digit number from
00 to 59, representing the minute past a given UTC hour. Maidenhead coordinates
are commonly used for contesting above 50 MHz; they would also make a fine
substitute for RS(T) in HF operating events.
Signal reports are still useful for routine contacts, however. The problem is
that RST and RS reports have become ritualized. Overuse has diluted their
value. The proposed new CS signal report system does a much better job of
telling the real story about our signals. There's nothing earth-shaking about
it. CS simply mimics and formalizes genuine signal reports which we give out
informally every day. We talk about how well we copy, what our S-meter reads,
and occasionally we comment about signal quality. RST and RS
reports have become ritualized.
The RST System
Readability
1 - Unreadable.
2 - Barely readable, occasional words distinguishable.
3 - Readable with considerable difficulty.
4 - Readable with practically no difficulty.
5 - Perfectly readable.
Signal Strength
1 - Faint signals, barely perceptible.
2 - Very weak signals.
3 - Weak signals.
4 - Fair signals.
5 - Fairly good signals.
6 - Good signals.
7 - Moderately strong signals.
8 - Strong signals.
9 - Extremely strong signals.
Tone
1 - Sixty-cycle ac or less, very rough and broad.
2 - Very rough ac, very harsh and broad.
3 - Rough ac tone, rectified but not filtered.
4 - Rough note, some trace of filtering.
5 - Filtered rectified ac but strongly ripple-modulated.
6 - Filtered tone, definite trace of ripple modulation.
7 - Near pure tone, trace of ripple modulation.
8 - Near perfect tone, slight trace of modulation.
9 - Perfect tone, no trace of ripple or modulation of any kind.
If the signal has the characteristic steadiness of crystal control, add the
letter X to the RST report.
If there is a chirp, add the letter C. Similarly for a click, add K. (See FCC
Regulations ž97.307,
Emissions Standards.) The above reporting system is used on both CW and voice;
leave out the "tone" report on voice.
A Problem Solver Becomes a Problem
RST is now 79 years old. ( RST first appeared in the May, 1925 QST.) CW was a
brand-new mode when the RST format was introduced. The
-Readability-Strength-Tone- signal reporting system was part of a great reform
movement in radiotelegraphy. Spark transmission was a messy and inefficient
means of radio communication. Spark was pushed aside in favor the much cleaner
"continuous wave" text transmission mode which allowed amateurs to concentrate
their transmitter power into a much smaller part of the electromagnetic
spectrum. By using on-and-off CW for radiotelegraphy, amateurs were able to
improve their ability to communicate considerably at the same time that they
freed up spectrum to be shared by many other stations.
CW is still a viable radio communications mode, and beloved by many enthusiasts
in the Amateur Radio community, but it is no longer the dominant amateur mode.
The landline Morse telegraphic system was largely replaced by teletype, but
most radio amateurs stuck to CW for a long time. Some amateurs adopted
radioteletype, RTTY, as a faster text transmission mode, but for many years
RTTY required large, noisy teletype machines and huge supplies of paper, so
many amateurs preferred the simplicity of CW for ragchewing, contesting, DXing
and passing formal traffic.
The invention and diffusion of the telephone made it possible for ordinary
people to communicate electronically over wires using no special skills.
Similarly, AM, and then later suppressed-carrier single-sideband and FM modes
gradually became more popular among radio amateurs. With the advent of home
computers, a number of exciting text transmission modes, including revived
frequency-shift RTTY, have emerged recently which are becoming popular among
radio amateurs. RST reports for these sophisticated modes are laughably out of
place.
Dropping the T and Adding New Optional Suffixes
During the move from spark to CW, the Tone reports were helpful for alerting
amateurs about AC power supply products in their signals. The tone part of RST
was a 1920's solution to a 1920's problem. Now CW key clicks and chirps are
occasionally aired, but we rarely hear CW stations transmitting with AC ripple
or buzz in their tone. The CS system drops the T-scale since its 9-levels for
describing AC transmission products are no longer useful. For less than perfect
tone, a single optional suffix R flags that now-unusual problem. When RST was
applied to phone modes, the T was dropped and was not replaced with similar
quality measures. The tone part of RST was a 1920's solution to a 1920's
problem.
The new CS system retains the optional suffixes of the RST system while adding
a single letter (R) to flag AC power supply ripple problems as well as S to
report excess spectrum utilization problems in phone and computer-based digital
modes.
Replacing R and S with C and a new S
The R and S scales describe important signal characteristics, but they are too
crudely formulated to adequately serve current amateur practice. At the bottom,
the R-scale provides for a signal which is -barely readable,- but it does not
account for a signal which is completely indiscernible. There is a huge gap
between level 3, which is "readable with considerable difficulty" and level 4,
which is "readable with practically no difficulty." Although an R-5 signal is
officially defined as "perfectly readable," sitting at the top of a 5-level
scale, it is frequently misapplied to signals which have not actually attained
that august status.
The CS system replaces the subjective R-scale with a readily-understandable
C-scale for Copyability based on the percentage of the message that is getting
through, and at the top end, the relative difficulty or ease that 100% copy can
be maintained. Just like in our example from the Great Lakes Retreads Net,
amateurs often talk about copying such-and-such fraction or percentage of the
transmitted text. Computers can now automate copyability percentages for
digital modes, and in modes with receiver-initiated error checking, stations
can dynamically adjust power high enough to be within the 100% copyability
range, yet low enough to minimize interference with other amateurs.
The RST and RS signal Strength scale is also behind the times. Radio amateurs
had no S-meters in 1925. Officially defined as a 9-level descriptive list of
relative signal strengths, R is now applied in practice by the use of S-meters
which are calibrated with S-9 well below the top of the scale. Radio amateurs
had no S-meters in 1925.
Amateur Radio operators frequently report the strength of very strong signals
as so many dB over S-9. That's a useful practice which is reflected in the
proposed CS system. S-meters are commonly calibrated for 50 μV for S-9, but
there is some variation from "generous" to "miserly." S-meters are nevertheless
still useful for making on-the-air comparisons. The new S-scale of the CS
system reports the readings found on most S-meters. It's not a perfect system.
The strength of an incoming signal varies considerably depending on the kind of
receiving equipment and antenna system being used by the reporting station.
Radio amateurs don't use laboratory instruments for communication. They use
real receivers and practical antennas. The S-meter scale is what we have and
what we use in practice. The new 16-level S scale in the CS system is easy to
understand: it's simply zero through fifteen expressed in hexidecimal numbers.
The top F-level signal strength report will be used only rarely: it will likely
apply only to a station very nearby which is operating at full legal power.
The proposed CS system isn't a new invention. It's an abbreviated way for
expressing how we actually operate when we genuinely strive to give a useful
signal report. Copyability and signal strength are very different. Sometimes a
signal which doesn't budge the S-meter will still be perfectly copyable. Under
difficult operating conditions, even a signal with 9 or A-level strength may
not be perfectly copyable.
CS: A Clean Slate for Improved Operating Practice
Since this proposed CS system reflects actual amateur usage, let's hope that it
will replace RST and RS and become a routine and useful part of many amateur
radio contacts. The CS system will serve best if is not used for contest
exchanges or in DXpedition operating. Most amateurs who are active contesters
and DXers have allowed their operating to become sullied by sending artificial
RS(T) signal reports. By ridding ourselves of all signal reporting in our
fast-paced contest and DX exchanges, we will return to a standard of operating
which is worthy of the finely-honed skills which our best contesters and DXers
have acquired.
If CS becomes the standard abbreviation system for signal reports, it should be
used only to give useful information which enhances Amateur Radio
communication.
Article by Bruce PRIOR (N7RR)
newmbp:~ mateo$ fold -s <out >out2
newmbp:~ mateo$ cat out2
Copyability and Strength:
A New Proposed Signal Report System
CS Copyability and Strength Signal Report System
C or Copyability Scale
X = no discernible signal
0 = discernible but not copyable
1 = 10% copyable
2 = 20% copyable
3 = 30% copyable
4 = 40% copyable
5 = 50% copyable
6 = 60% copyable
7 = 70% copyable
8 = 80% copyable
9 = 90% copyable
D = 100% copyable with Difficulty
M = 100% copyable with Minor difficulty
P = Perfect armchair 100% copyable or full-quieting on FM
"X" is used for "no discernible signal" instead of "N," since "N" is an
abbreviation for "9."
Signal Strength or S-Meter Scale
0 = no S-meter reading
1 = S-1
2 = S-2
3 = S-3
4 = S-4
5 = S-5
6 = S-6
7 = S-7
8 = S-8
9 = S-9
A = 1 to 10 dB over S-9
B = 11 to 20 dB over S-9
C = 21 to 30 dB over S-9
D = 31 to 40 dB over S-9
E = 41 to 50 dB over S-9
F = more than 50 dB over S-9
Optional Suffixes
X = characteristic steadiness of crystal (Xtal) control
R = AC Ripple or buzz in transmission
C = Chirp or tail on make and/or break
K = key clicKs or other keying transients
S = Spectrum overuse in phone or digital modes
Examples:
- A CW signal which is 70% copyable, with an S-meter reading of 2, and with key
clicks: 72K
- A USB signal which is perfectly copyable, with an S-meter reading of 35 dB
over S-9, and is overmodulated: PDS
- A PSK31 signal which is perfectly copyable, but with an S-meter reading of 1:
P1
-Okay, hearing no emergency or priority traffic, the Great Lakes Retreads Net
is ready for this evening's roll-call. This is Kilo Alpha Nine Romeo Victor
November, in Elmhurst. We'll start with Akron, W8GYB.-
"K . . .VN this . . . skey eight . . . kee Bra . . . . ffic . . . net."
-W8GYB, Kyle, it's good to hear your voice. I haven't heard you on for a few
weeks. You're 6 on the S-meter, but we have loud static crashes here, so I'm
only copying about half of what you're saying. Would you mind switching on your
linear?-
-Fine, Susan, KA9RVN this is Whiskey Eight Golf Yankee Bravo. I'm running the
air conditioner, so I didn't fire up the linear the first time. You're armchair
copy here and 10 over 9, so I thought I didn't need extra power. No traffic for
the net. Over.-
Genuine Signal Reporting
That's the way the most useful signal reports are given these days. We need to
know how much of our transmission the other operator can copy and how strong
our signal is. This article proposes a new signal reporting system which meets
real communication needs. The "CS" or Copyability and Strength system is
designed to replace the now-antiquated RST and RS signal reports, which are
commonly used - even overused -- and very frequently misused. Most contest and
DXpedition operators send 599 or 59 for all contacts. Signal reports are not
required for DX Century Club or CQ Worked All Continents or CQ Worked All Zones
or CQ DX or USA-CA or Worked All States awards. They are also not required for
Field Day or Sweepstakes. Stereotyped signal reports serve no useful purpose in
the quick exchanges which contesters and DXers require. Indeed, since signal
reporting is not needed for valid QSOs, all signal reports, including this
proposed CS system, should be dropped from DXpedition operations, and contest
and award sponsors should either drop all signal report requirements or replace
them with more interesting and useful exchanges. For example, an important
aspect of DXpedition administration is correlating the time recorded in the
DXpedition log with the time reported on QSL cards. A very useful exchange
would be the time of the DX QSO, perhaps abbreviated to a 2-digit number from
00 to 59, representing the minute past a given UTC hour. Maidenhead coordinates
are commonly used for contesting above 50 MHz; they would also make a fine
substitute for RS(T) in HF operating events.
Signal reports are still useful for routine contacts, however. The problem is
that RST and RS reports have become ritualized. Overuse has diluted their
value. The proposed new CS signal report system does a much better job of
telling the real story about our signals. There's nothing earth-shaking about
it. CS simply mimics and formalizes genuine signal reports which we give out
informally every day. We talk about how well we copy, what our S-meter reads,
and occasionally we comment about signal quality. RST and RS
reports have become ritualized.
The RST System
Readability
1 - Unreadable.
2 - Barely readable, occasional words distinguishable.
3 - Readable with considerable difficulty.
4 - Readable with practically no difficulty.
5 - Perfectly readable.
Signal Strength
1 - Faint signals, barely perceptible.
2 - Very weak signals.
3 - Weak signals.
4 - Fair signals.
5 - Fairly good signals.
6 - Good signals.
7 - Moderately strong signals.
8 - Strong signals.
9 - Extremely strong signals.
Tone
1 - Sixty-cycle ac or less, very rough and broad.
2 - Very rough ac, very harsh and broad.
3 - Rough ac tone, rectified but not filtered.
4 - Rough note, some trace of filtering.
5 - Filtered rectified ac but strongly ripple-modulated.
6 - Filtered tone, definite trace of ripple modulation.
7 - Near pure tone, trace of ripple modulation.
8 - Near perfect tone, slight trace of modulation.
9 - Perfect tone, no trace of ripple or modulation of any kind.
If the signal has the characteristic steadiness of crystal control, add the
letter X to the RST report.
If there is a chirp, add the letter C. Similarly for a click, add K. (See FCC
Regulations ž97.307,
Emissions Standards.) The above reporting system is used on both CW and voice;
leave out the "tone" report on voice.
A Problem Solver Becomes a Problem
RST is now 79 years old. ( RST first appeared in the May, 1925 QST.) CW was a
brand-new mode when the RST format was introduced. The
-Readability-Strength-Tone- signal reporting system was part of a great reform
movement in radiotelegraphy. Spark transmission was a messy and inefficient
means of radio communication. Spark was pushed aside in favor the much cleaner
"continuous wave" text transmission mode which allowed amateurs to concentrate
their transmitter power into a much smaller part of the electromagnetic
spectrum. By using on-and-off CW for radiotelegraphy, amateurs were able to
improve their ability to communicate considerably at the same time that they
freed up spectrum to be shared by many other stations.
CW is still a viable radio communications mode, and beloved by many enthusiasts
in the Amateur Radio community, but it is no longer the dominant amateur mode.
The landline Morse telegraphic system was largely replaced by teletype, but
most radio amateurs stuck to CW for a long time. Some amateurs adopted
radioteletype, RTTY, as a faster text transmission mode, but for many years
RTTY required large, noisy teletype machines and huge supplies of paper, so
many amateurs preferred the simplicity of CW for ragchewing, contesting, DXing
and passing formal traffic.
The invention and diffusion of the telephone made it possible for ordinary
people to communicate electronically over wires using no special skills.
Similarly, AM, and then later suppressed-carrier single-sideband and FM modes
gradually became more popular among radio amateurs. With the advent of home
computers, a number of exciting text transmission modes, including revived
frequency-shift RTTY, have emerged recently which are becoming popular among
radio amateurs. RST reports for these sophisticated modes are laughably out of
place.
Dropping the T and Adding New Optional Suffixes
During the move from spark to CW, the Tone reports were helpful for alerting
amateurs about AC power supply products in their signals. The tone part of RST
was a 1920's solution to a 1920's problem. Now CW key clicks and chirps are
occasionally aired, but we rarely hear CW stations transmitting with AC ripple
or buzz in their tone. The CS system drops the T-scale since its 9-levels for
describing AC transmission products are no longer useful. For less than perfect
tone, a single optional suffix R flags that now-unusual problem. When RST was
applied to phone modes, the T was dropped and was not replaced with similar
quality measures. The tone part of RST was a 1920's solution to a 1920's
problem.
The new CS system retains the optional suffixes of the RST system while adding
a single letter (R) to flag AC power supply ripple problems as well as S to
report excess spectrum utilization problems in phone and computer-based digital
modes.
Replacing R and S with C and a new S
The R and S scales describe important signal characteristics, but they are too
crudely formulated to adequately serve current amateur practice. At the bottom,
the R-scale provides for a signal which is -barely readable,- but it does not
account for a signal which is completely indiscernible. There is a huge gap
between level 3, which is "readable with considerable difficulty" and level 4,
which is "readable with practically no difficulty." Although an R-5 signal is
officially defined as "perfectly readable," sitting at the top of a 5-level
scale, it is frequently misapplied to signals which have not actually attained
that august status.
The CS system replaces the subjective R-scale with a readily-understandable
C-scale for Copyability based on the percentage of the message that is getting
through, and at the top end, the relative difficulty or ease that 100% copy can
be maintained. Just like in our example from the Great Lakes Retreads Net,
amateurs often talk about copying such-and-such fraction or percentage of the
transmitted text. Computers can now automate copyability percentages for
digital modes, and in modes with receiver-initiated error checking, stations
can dynamically adjust power high enough to be within the 100% copyability
range, yet low enough to minimize interference with other amateurs.
The RST and RS signal Strength scale is also behind the times. Radio amateurs
had no S-meters in 1925. Officially defined as a 9-level descriptive list of
relative signal strengths, R is now applied in practice by the use of S-meters
which are calibrated with S-9 well below the top of the scale. Radio amateurs
had no S-meters in 1925.
Amateur Radio operators frequently report the strength of very strong signals
as so many dB over S-9. That's a useful practice which is reflected in the
proposed CS system. S-meters are commonly calibrated for 50 μV for S-9, but
there is some variation from "generous" to "miserly." S-meters are nevertheless
still useful for making on-the-air comparisons. The new S-scale of the CS
system reports the readings found on most S-meters. It's not a perfect system.
The strength of an incoming signal varies considerably depending on the kind of
receiving equipment and antenna system being used by the reporting station.
Radio amateurs don't use laboratory instruments for communication. They use
real receivers and practical antennas. The S-meter scale is what we have and
what we use in practice. The new 16-level S scale in the CS system is easy to
understand: it's simply zero through fifteen expressed in hexidecimal numbers.
The top F-level signal strength report will be used only rarely: it will likely
apply only to a station very nearby which is operating at full legal power.
The proposed CS system isn't a new invention. It's an abbreviated way for
expressing how we actually operate when we genuinely strive to give a useful
signal report. Copyability and signal strength are very different. Sometimes a
signal which doesn't budge the S-meter will still be perfectly copyable. Under
difficult operating conditions, even a signal with 9 or A-level strength may
not be perfectly copyable.
CS: A Clean Slate for Improved Operating Practice
Since this proposed CS system reflects actual amateur usage, let's hope that it
will replace RST and RS and become a routine and useful part of many amateur
radio contacts. The CS system will serve best if is not used for contest
exchanges or in DXpedition operating. Most amateurs who are active contesters
and DXers have allowed their operating to become sullied by sending artificial
RS(T) signal reports. By ridding ourselves of all signal reporting in our
fast-paced contest and DX exchanges, we will return to a standard of operating
which is worthy of the finely-honed skills which our best contesters and DXers
have acquired.
If CS becomes the standard abbreviation system for signal reports, it should be
used only to give useful information which enhances Amateur Radio
communication.
Article by Bruce PRIOR (N7RR)
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