// Status=edited

Controls familiar to users of program _WSJT_ appear on *Tab 1*,
providing six fields for message entry.  Pre-formatted messages for
the standard minimal QSO are generated when you click *Generate Std
Msgs* or double-click on an appropriate line in one of the decoded
text windows.

//.Traditional Message Menu
image::traditional-msg-box.png[align="center",alt="Traditional Message Menu"]

* Select the next message to be transmitted (at the start of your next
Tx sequence) by clicking the radio button in the *Next* column.

* To change to a specified Tx message immediately during a
transmission, click a rectangular button in the *Now* column.
Changing a Tx message in mid-stream slightly reduces the chance of
a correct decode, but it is usually OK if done in the first 10-20% of a transmission.

* All six Tx message fields are editable.  You can modify an
automatically generated message or enter a desired message, keeping in
mind the limits on message content.  See <<PROTOCOLS,Protocol
Specifications>> for details.

* Click the pull-down arrow for message #5 to select one of the
stored messages entered on the *Files -> Settings -> Tx Macros* tab.
Pressing *Enter* on a modified message #5 automatically adds that
message to the stored macros.

* In some circumstances it may be desirable to make your QSOs as short
as possible.  To configure the program to start contacts with message
#2, disable message #1 by double-clicking its radio-button in the
*Next* column or *Tx 1* button in the *Now* column.  Similarly, to
send RR73 rather than RRR for message #4, double-click one of its
buttons.

+

TIP: During a transmission the actual message being sent always
appears in the first box of the status bar (bottom-left corner of the main
screen).