Wonderful response! It forms the basis for a wonderful debate Gerry. You
are definitely correct that each of us is marketing our station if we are
using a run radio. The part that makes a contest interesting is that each
of us has a different "marketing plan". It wud be dull indeed if we tuned
the band only to hear a chain of run radios churning out all computer
generated CW at 37 wpm. I have no idea who first stated that "variety is
the spice of life", but it is also the lure of a contest.
Enough from here.........Happy New Year to all for the last time (I think
it's illegal to say it after January 2nd)
73 de Frank W8HO ex WB8ZEV
At 09:42 AM 1/2/2002 -0500, you wrote:
>The recent thread on CW speed is an interesting one.
>
>When you are running in a contest, you are marketing your station.
>"Hey, please come work me. In and out, fast and efficient.
>I am a competent operator and we will be done as quickly as possible."
>
>How do you get that message across? Here's some of the techniques
>I use. Probably old news for 90% on this reflector, YMMV, IMHO, etc...
>
>- Call CQ in short bursts.
> If your doing S&P, you should be tuning quickly for stations. If you
> hear "CQ TEST CQ TEST CQ TE..." hopefully you've tuned by that station!
>
>- Find the "sweet spot" of CW speed for the contest you are in. Somewhat
> contrary to the opinions here, I tend to keep my speed fairly
> high, typically 35-37 WPM. Too slow (say below 27 wpm) and you'll run
> into the same "long CQ" problem. Too fast, and you'll limit the
> audience. However, I believe the top end of speed is somewhat open.
> If you're a DXPedtion or rare QTH, you can use speed to modulate the
> depth of a pileup. Faster is very good in you're managing a
> packet-spot pileup.
>
> Rarely do I slow down if a station is QRS. If they ASK for QRS, sure.
> Otherwise, I assume they can copy me. Typical contest exchanges are
> pretty simple, other than SS. Even that is not bad -- they can listen
> to prior QSOs to get static information. It is a rite of passage for
> a new contester to sit and listen to a station and figure out the call
> which is above their current copying speed. Also, I get stations
> responding to my 37WPM CQ with a straight key... copying me perfectly,
> and replying with the technology they have.
>
> Years ago, as a newbie, I remember listening for 15 minutes in an SSB
> contest before I could get the callsign "KP4AST". A rite of passage,
> the cost to get a new multipler.
>
>- Send exchanges using your computer, if you have it. Nothing turns off
> S&P stations in a hurry like mistakes. Even if you're a perfect
> sender, use the key for fills only. Use the CQ time for other
> tasks. We are all human, that's why we use computers!
>
>Always remember you are marketing yourself. Have you ever noticed that
>many of the perennial top 10 finishers in contesting work in marketing
>in their professional lives? (Oh Oh, I'm an engineer :-( )
>
>73 & HNY,
>
>Gerry, W1VE/VE1RM
>
>
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