> Is there anywhere printed the 'netiquette' type of rules for > joining and leaving a voice communications (AM) round table?
It's pretty loose :-) 1. Find someplace besides right smack dab on top of the existing round table to tune up. 2. Wait for someone to turn it to the next person in the rotation and just throw out your call. "Break <your call> works, too. AM'ers generally leave a "space" between transmissions just for this purpose. If it's a more VOX-like exchange in progress, wait for a break and then announce yourself. Virtually all AM QSO's welcome anyone that happens by. 3. Leaving is about the same. Let people know you're going, that this will be your last transmission, etc. Don't just vanish. If you have to leave out of turn, use that space between transmissions to jump in quickly and let folks know you're going, then pass it to the person that was next in the rotation. 4. The bigger the group, the shorter your transmissions ought to get. There's nothing worse than a roundtable of 6-8 or more people all making long old buzzard transmissions -- it can be an hour (or longer) before you get to open your mouth again :-) What else? -- I don't know --- leave the bodily noises outside the radio room, and remember that you probably have a bigger general audience on AM than you would on sidband. If I'm working in the room but not participating I'd MUCH rather listen to an interesting AM QSO than the other stuff ... Grant/NQ5T
