Hi,
Some of this discussion is due to the divide between the so-called Big
Guns and the little pistols. The former are the top tier big stations with
big signals and big ambitions, while the latter are smaller stations with
smaller signals and more modest ambitions. In addition, there are the Sunday
afternoon contesters who jump in for fun and maybe don't even know the
rules. Some don't even use macros for the exchange.
The Big Guns get most of their Qs by running where cumulative fractions of
seconds are important. The little pistols rely more on S&P and think more
in terms of minutes.
I'm in the second category. In the Roundup, my first four hour rates
were: 36, 35, 29, 28. For the whole contest it was 27/hour. The longest run
was 31 Qs in 38 minutes. For me that was good since my overall goal was
18/hour, but you can see where I get a different mind set. So, in direct
answer to your question, I can maybe work three more stations in 5.6 minutes,
but that's not your point. The question is: how many you could work?
Quite a few, I know.
I never thought much about this until I followed this thread. I certainly
have never wanted to slow down any station, including my own.
Consequently, I've tightened up some of my macros, but left some the same.
With my
small signal I need to make sure my info (my call and the non-RST part of the
exchange) gets through. I repeat more because of that. I let my
experience guide me here and sometimes change my macros during the contest as
conditions change. If I repeat info, it's because I want YOU to get it right
for your score's sake.
The friendliest I've ever been was in my running macro: W6XXX TU 73 AB1J
QRZ
which I've changed to TU W6XXX AB1J CQ
Dropping the 73 may speed me up, but it doesn't make me a better person.
;-))
Under marginal conditions I often repeat my call in this macro.
I appreciate the discussions on this reflector and want to thank everyone
for all the Qs over the last couple of years. I could kick myself for not
discovering RTTY long ago. I only got into RTTY when they took away the
licensing CW requirement and I decided I'd better get into the 21st century
and get digital (baudal?).
Right now my biggest problem is digging out from a massive snow storm.
It's been snowing for 15 hours and is still coming down. I periodically go
out to try to keep ahead of it and come back in looking like a Yeti. If you
don't hear from me for a while, send out a big St Bernard with some brandy.
73,
Kermit (aka Ken), AB1J
In a message dated 1/12/2011 5:09:05 P.M. GMT Standard Time,
dezrat1242@yahoo.com writes:
REPLY:
If you call CQ 2000 times in a contest, saving one character gives you
an extra 5.6 minutes. How many more stations can you work in 5.6
minutes?
The very first RTTY contest I ever entered I won CQ Zone 3. The second
place station was behind me by one mult or four Qs. A lesson I never
forgot.
73, Bill W6WRT
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