Interesting point Jose.
While this is certainly true in the D4B/ZD8Z/P40E case;
I take the opposite view in the USA case.
During CQWW or ARRL DX the maximum rate is ~200/hr and that is only once or
twice on Saturday morning.
The next few hours might yield 150 at most, even at superstations. The
average rate is 120 during peak hours and way down on Sunday.
If you are working only 2 or 3 stations maximum in a minute; that leaves
~30sec of CQing per minute.
I submit it is an advantage to have a longer call!
KQ2M will be easier to find than K5ZD or N2NT. He will have more air time,
and someone might tune by a shorter call with pauses between.
In USA we don't rely on being spotted on packet, it is more band presence.
Also, that is why SO2R becomes more important and you get large second radio
totals, but that is another subject.
To your point, I found it easier to use VY2NT than VY2ZM this year in CQWW.
The rates were much higher, and a shorter call seemed to help. The rates
were higher which caused me to ID less frequently, but I had a different
solution. I would ID very fast. I'm not sure it is the best solution since
many copied UY2NT. But at least I tried :)
That being said, I picked my call originally for the very reason you stated.
I was interested in a short call for the sprint.
In that case it is a big advantage.
73 and ThanKs for the great input.
Andy N2NT
> -----Original Message-----
> From: cq-contest-bounces@contesting.com
> [mailto:cq-contest-bounces@contesting.com]On Behalf Of CT1BOH - José
> Carlos Nunes
> Sent: Friday, January 21, 2005 7:01 AM
> To: cq-contest@contesting.com
> Subject: [CQ-Contest] The battle of the callsigns
>
>
>
>
>
>
> It is known that the outcome of a contest performance is
> determined by three main factors:
>
>
>
> 1.. Geographical location
> 2.. Operating skill
> 3.. Station performance
>
>
> What perhaps it not so well know, there is a callsign battle
> going on, and this factor is also of great importance to the
> final outcome of the contest.
>
>
>
> With the help of an audio spectrum analyzer, I determined the
> length of some well know calls, at 35 and 40 WPMs.
>
>
>
> Also I collected data from P40E CQWW CW 2003 operation. In this
> operation, according to my logging software, I pushed F1 button
> (TEST P40E) 5605 times. Although the program did not record how
> many times I pushed F4 (P40E) button, taking into account the
> 8183 QSO's, let's assume, the overall number (F1+F4) is around
> 10.000 times, which if anything, it is a conservative number.
>
>
>
> With all this information, let's check how long different calls
> take, and it's impact in the final score:
>
>
>
> @40 WPM
>
>
>
> P40E = 1,593 second * 10.000/60/60= 4,43 hours
>
> D4B=1,031 seconds *10.000/60/60= 2,86 hours
>
> ZD8Z=1,655 seconds*10.000/60/60= 4,60 hours
>
>
>
> So the battle of the callsigns is won by D4B.
>
> D4B callsign will give the operator a 1,56 hour advantage over
> P40E (3,25% of the contest time) and a 1,73 hour advantage over
> ZD8Z in the contest
>
> P40E is the shortest callsign available to foreigners in Aruba,
> so there is nothing more to be done regarding this subject.
>
> ZD8Z would gain a bit had he chosen ZD8E instead of ZD8Z.
>
>
>
> Let's now check some calls in the USA. Let's continue to assume
> the USA stations broadcast their calls 10.000 times, but now at 35 WPM
>
>
>
> KQ2M 1,867 *10.000/60/60=5,19 hours
>
> K5ZD 1,584 *10.000/60/60=4,40 hours
>
> N9RV 1,660 *10.000/60/60=4,61hours
>
> K1AR 1,659 *10.000/60/60=4,61hours
>
>
>
> Now what if all these USA stations instead of using their
> callsigns would rather use, one of the shortest USA calls: AE5E
>
>
>
> AE5E 0,883*10.000/60/60=2,45 hours
>
>
>
> What would be the gain in hours be and the respective % in the
> total contest time (48 hours):
>
>
>
> KQ2M 2,73 hours 5,7%
>
> K5ZD 1,95 hours 4,1%
>
> N9RV 2,16 hours 4,5%
>
> K1AR 2,16 hours 4,5%
>
>
>
> It is quite impressive. Just by choosing a shorter call, KQ2M
> would have almost 6% more of available time. That's a lot of time
> and points to the final score.
>
>
>
> And what about those famous MM callsign that relentlessly
> broadcast their calls over the air. Well because they operate MM
> the total operating time is not 48 hours but the sum of the
> operating time on all the six bands. I have no data regarding how
> many times they broadcast their callsigns, but lets guess it is
> 30.000 times.
>
>
>
> W3LPL 2,223 seconds*30.000/60/60=18,53 hours
>
> K3LR 1,659 seconds*30.000/60/60=13,83 hours
>
> KC1XX 2,503 seconds*30.000/60/60=20,86 hours
>
> K9NS 1,587 seconds*30.000/60/60=13,23 hours
>
>
>
> Would they rather use AE5E call this would be their gain in hours:
>
>
>
> W3LPL 11,17 hours
>
> K3LR 6,47 hours
>
> KC1XX 13,50 hours
>
> K9NS 5,87 hours
>
>
>
> It is funny how both KC1XX and W3LPL calls are lousy contest
> calls (judged only by the time it takes to transmit it). Of
> course they are well know, and there are advantages, but they
> would be better off switching definitely to a shorter call, like
> AE3E or AE1E or AE9E
>
>
>
> Anyway, the point is, if your objective is records, winning, etc,
> the quickest way to boost your score is choosing the shortest
> contest call available.
>
>
>
> 73, José Nunes, CT1BOH, www.qsl.net/ct1boh
>
> _______________________________________________
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> CQ-Contest@contesting.com
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