I want a listener to copy me without retuning when I start to transmit, so I want to hit the same downlink frequency that the previous station was on at the end of his transmission. I then make a one-time correction of my transmitter frequency so that I sound natural on the downlink, which is still tuned to the frequency where I was listening to the previous speaker. If the downlink is unchanged for me, it s also unchanged for all other listeners, so my goal of smooth transition is achieved. Of course, nothing is really that simple. If the other station is obviously wildly off frequency, it s probably better to force a frequency jump back to someplace near the original QSO frequency than to follow him off into the ozone.
Judgment is required.
Flexibility is especially required when communicating with a new satellite operator, who may not have a clear idea of how he is supposed to tune his radios. This one-time adjustment that I m suggesting may sound like heresy. After all, everybody preaches that you re only supposed to tune one radio. These operators know that following the simple rule to the letter doesn t work very well, so they compensate. That s not sloppy operating, it s just common sense.