Some of the most-common time-wasters among new contesters I hear are:
1. Unnecessarily repeating phonetics. In most cases, you should be able to say
“nq6n 599 mb”. Only if it’s really challenging or a fill has been requested
does it make sense to say “november quebec….” He knows who he is!
2. A few times, I heard a running station answer with “ve4xt, go ahead” and
then waited for my exchange. Argggh!
3. Sending my call twice before starting the exchange (either as a run station
or in S&P). I know my own call!
4. Sending his/her call twice in the exchange when I’ve already sent it back to
them correctly. “Oh, crap. Did I miss a letter? Should I ask for a fill?”
5. “You are…”, especially when it’s an exchange that doesn’t include
information about me. I know I am, or some such Descartian saying…
6. Using bizarre phonetics. OK, I don’t mind a station doing this during a
low-rate CQ period. Helps generate interest. But once you have a station on the
line, it’s all business. So park the "Kilo 7 Sheldon Says Bazinga" and either
give me it without phonetics, particularly if it’s clear, or with standard
phonetics. An exception is made if you want to pay homage to a certain Hawaiian
with Bloomin’ Zipper Flippers. Worse is the guy who insists on using his
goofball phonetics even after I’ve asked for a fill. Dude, your silly phonetics
are probably WHY I’m not getting it! “NO! Not DELTA. It's GIFELTE!"
7. Using a longer first name than the field space on contest loggers. OK, who
was the prima donna who just needed to call himself Nostradamus in NAQP a
number of years ago?
8. Despite the historical precedent so clearly elucidated by Hans, please copy
should go away…
73, kelly
ve4xt
> On Dec 17, 2015, at 4:46 PM, Matt Murphy <matt@nq6n.com> wrote:
>
> "Please copy" is a non-optimal way to exchange information over a radio
> channel b/c it takes time to say and doesn't significantly improve the
> chances that the station at the other end will successfully copy what
> follows.
>
> There are lots of things that new hams do because they have not had enough
> experience to realize that doing them doesn't help the situation. Another
> example is saying things extremely slowly (like someone might talk to a
> young child) rather than at repeated a few times at normal speed. Another
> is speaking very loudly (with compression it's not necessary at all and can
> make things worse).
>
> Fortunately the day to day experience of operating helps provide evidence
> that none of these techniques are helpful. It's rare that I have a rate
> high enough that a caller saying "please copy" slows it down significantly.
>
> I am not sure of this but I think "please copy" is also used as a form of
> etiquette in some net operations.
>
> I'd recommend taking a moment to slow down and give out a tip or two during
> a run. The contest community is full of wisdom and mentorship, and it can
> even be squeezed in between Q's.
>
> 73,
> Matt NQ6N
>
> On Thu, Dec 17, 2015 at 3:27 PM, Michael Schulz <mschulz@creative-chaos.com>
> wrote:
>
>> I guess the "Please copy ..." comes from maybe their first exposure to
>> "contesting" during Field Day
>> which is not a contest (yes it is, and we're going to win it anyway). And
>> yes, leading by example is the
>> way to go, but at the same time it needs to be pointed out not necessarily
>> as wrong, but as not best
>> practice for numerous reasons.
>>
>> 73 Mike K5TRI
>>
>>> -----Original Message-----
>>> From: CQ-Contest [mailto:cq-contest-bounces@contesting.com] On Behalf
>>> Of Tom Haavisto
>>> Sent: Thursday, December 17, 2015 10:44 AM
>>> To: Marty s <0246811@gmail.com>
>>> Cc: cq-contest <cq-contest@contesting.com>
>>> Subject: Re: [CQ-Contest] CQ WW Survey results - part 1
>>>
>>> Hi Marty
>>>
>>> Glad to see there are some young contesters here.
>>>
>>> Please don't focus on things others are doing wrong like "Please copy..."
>>> We all learn from our mistakes, and we get better through practice and
>>> participation.
>>>
>>> Having fun is what it is all about, and that would be the message I
>> suggest
>>> you pass along to your friends. Contesting IS fun, and things better
>> better
>>> the more they participate. As they emulate what they see and hear others
>>> doing, the "please copy" will gradually disappear without them even being
>>> aware of it.
>>>
>>>
>>> Tom - VE3CX
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> On Thu, Dec 17, 2015 at 1:04 PM, Marty s <0246811@gmail.com> wrote:
>>>
>>>> I agree, I spend a lot of my time getting more young hams involved. I
>>>> am 13, and am fairly active in the contests. There are plenty of young
>>>> kids getting into the hobby, but not anywhere as many into contesting.
>>>> I know close to 45 kids in the hobby, and maybe 5 are into contesting
>>>> somewhat, and only 3 of us, care enough to keep the butt in the chair,
>>>> or have a hint of skill (Don't make me tell you about the kids who
>>>> start all exchanges with "Please copy":) I think if we target the kids
>>>> in the hobby who are really seriously interested, and give the
>>>> resources, there will be more contesting young people. I know I wound
>>>> not know much about contesting without all of my Elmers in the YCCC,
>>>> or being invited to a multi-multi during CQ WW this year. Just my 2
>> cents.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Marty
>>>>
>>>> This email may contain confidential and/or privileged information. If
>>>>
>>>> you are not the intended recipient, or if you have received this email
>>>>
>>>> in error, then please notify the sender immediately and destroy this
>> email.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> On Thu, Dec 17, 2015 at 11:37 AM, Michael Schulz <
>>>> mschulz@creative-chaos.com
>>>>> wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> Interesting results which show that if you want to be successful, be
>>>> closer
>>>>> to or in Europe :).
>>>>>
>>>>> Regarding the age distribution, I see this concern all the time that
>>>> there
>>>>> are declining numbers based on age
>>>>> and that amateur radio will be dead when the last old hams died.
>>>>> This
>>>> seems
>>>>> to be always then be tied to
>>>>> youth not coming into the hobby at a higher rate. How about a
>>>>> different lens in which one would look at influx of new hams
>>>>> regardless of age? Do we need 90% (making an extreme example) of
>>> new
>>>>> hams to be <18 years old?
>>>>> Especially in contesting, the 40+ age group (I find myself in that
>>>> bracket)
>>>>> would seem more likely to engage in
>>>>> contesting as new-comers given that by that time in life, things
>>>>> have settled more overall, and disposable income is (ideally)
>>>>> greater as compared to the 16 - 20 or 20 - 30 age brackets.
>>>>>
>>>>> Thoughts?
>>>>>
>>>>> 73 Mike K5TRI
>>>>>
>>>>>> -----Original Message-----
>>>>>> From: CQ-Contest [mailto:cq-contest-bounces@contesting.com] On
>>>>>> Behalf Of David Gilbert
>>>>>> Sent: Wednesday, December 16, 2015 9:49 PM
>>>>>> To: cq-contest@contesting.com
>>>>>> Subject: Re: [CQ-Contest] CQ WW Survey results - part 1
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>> I don't find the age distribution to be surprising at all. Age
>>>>>> data
>>>> from
>>>>> the All
>>>>>> Asian contest exchange looks similar. Look at the pictures from
>>>>>> Dayton
>>>>> or
>>>>>> any club meeting and compare them to pictures taken 30 years ago
>> ...
>>>>> pretty
>>>>>> much all you see are people that are 30 years older.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Somebody I was speaking to once claimed that the average age of
>>>>>> ham
>>>> radio
>>>>>> ops in the U.S. increased at least one year every 1.5 years. Seems
>>>> about
>>>>> right
>>>>>> to me.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> 73,
>>>>>> Dave AB7E
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>> On 12/16/2015 5:41 PM, Randy Thompson K5ZD wrote:
>>>>>>> There is a new blog post with the first results from the CQ WW
>>>> Contest
>>>>>>> survey that was open during September 2015.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> http://cqww.com/blog/2015-cq-ww-survey-results-part-1/
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> This first post cover demographic information about the
>> responses.
>>>>>>> The most striking finding is how old we are!
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Comments and discussion are welcome.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Randy, K5ZD
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> _______________________________________________
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>>>>>>>
>>>>>>
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