At 12:35 PM 2/29/96 -0500, Fred K3ZO wrote:
>5) When running, you should be getting the correct calls of 90% of
>the stations that call you the first time, or you haven't arrived
>yet. I don't maintain a partial call database in my contest
>program; but I do know in my head what calls are likely to be
>issued in each country, and I know by heart a lot of calls of
>frequent contesters (even though I can never remember their
>names!), and this helps a lot.
Fred's comment prompts me to chime in on one sub-issue. Running is one
skill you can't learn from an inferior station, because you can't run enough
to "get it." Now that I have a decent high-bands antenna, I'm having to
learn all this, at my advanced age ...
I'm sure this is elementary to the big guns on here, but maybe this will be
useful to some. Since I'm far from the 90% plateau, I find it much better
to send "G3? 599wv" or "SXW 599 wv" than "G3?" or "SXW?" You can keep your
rhythm and get the fill quickly that way, where asking for call-sign repeats
and *then* starting the exchange only slows you down and positively invites
people to steal your run freq.
73,
Pete Smith N4ZR (n4zr@ix.netcom.com)
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