One of the things I do as a ham is

 try and give an accurate signal report.
On phone (voice) there are two numbers. The first one is voice clarity in a scale of 1-5. Five is as clear as a conversation across a table and 1 in unintelligible. Two is readable, but barely. Three and four are in between.

The second number is the strength of the signal itself, generally read off of the transceiver's S-meter. It can run from S-0 to S-9. Above S-9 it can range from 10 to 40 decibels over S-9.

A signal report sound something like this: "You are a 5 by six." This means he is clear as a bell and it registering 6 on the s-meter.

During pileups and on most DXpeditions or contests where the operator is fielding as many calls as possible he generally gives everyone a pro forma 5x9 and calls it good. 

Some operators do this too but I don't. A few operators simply give you yours back and call it good.

What I do is give an honest signal report. I suppose a few guys with super stations may get a bent nose hearing that their report is less than 5x9 but that's the way the cookies crumble.

When I do give a 5x9 I usually follow it with the word 'actual', meaning it is actually a 5x9 instead of a pro forma 5x9 I gave him just to fill in his log.



To find out why the blog is pink just cut and paste this: http://piccoloshash.blogspot.com/2009/12/my-feminine-side-blog-stays-pink.html NO ANIMALS WERE HARMED IN THE WRITING OF TODAY'S ESSAY