On 12/31/01 11:06 AM, K0LUZ at k0luz@topsusa.com wrote:
>But maybe there are enough people out there who would venture into a cw
>contest if the speed was slow enough! Perhaps if there was a contest with a
>maximum cw speed allowed of 20 wpm (or whatever), we could begin to
>generate some new blood into the cw contesting ranks.
I know I've told this story before, but it bears repeating.
In 1999, I was part of the #1 USA M/M WPX CW team at NQ4I. Since I'm only
a mediocre CW op, Rick put me on 10m, and he swapped out with me. We did
the entire contest calling CQ, with virtually no S & P.
Since I'm so mediocre (ok, I'm a little better since then), I preferred a
CW speed no higher than 28 wpm. Mostly, I'd go around 24-26 wpm. Yes, I
know, that's really SLOW for most of you CW types.
Rick, however, being a much better CW operator, would set the CW speed
around 32-36 wpm. So, every time we switched operators, we would change
the speed by around 8 wpm.
I noticed something after a while. Every time we switched operators, we'd
get a flurry of calls. The rate would go up just a bit for the next 5
minutes or so. Every time.
This tells me that changing CW speed attracts the attention of a
different group of operators. If you want to attract the most operators
to work -- you need to think about varying your CW speed.
Naturally, if you are working stations one after the other at 40+ wpm,
there's no need to slow down.
But when you're going for the F1 key for the 10th time in a row with no
answers, may it is time to try shifting the CW speed down closer to 20
wpm.
Maybe contest software should have a RUFZ-like feature, that slows down
every time you press F1, and speeds up every time you work someone....
Bill Coleman, AA4LR, PP-ASEL Mail: aa4lr@arrl.net
Quote: "Not within a thousand years will man ever fly!"
-- Wilbur Wright, 1901
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