i tried many different numbers and also repeating the same number eg 123
one thing to add though is that i did not have any message in the OGM2 since i just needed the number entered to be repeated, the last thing i tried was entering a short message "the number you entered was" and i tested that and it did not show the same behavior in my tests that is it worked each time, since it was random i cannto be sure, i then cleared that message and retested with a simple 123 and then again i repeated the test and the second time and 2 or 3 times after that it did not work until i gave up and added "the number entered" message again and it worked again.
as for ensuring there was no difference, i actually set the test up so that i i could press * to take me back to OGM1 to repeat each time so it was even the same instance of the simulator
i am going to go with adding a short pre message and see how things go
is there perhaps some sort of timing issue with the variables?