> >I will appreciate your sugestion for
> >SSB contest training software...
> >Best 73 - PY2NY
I used to employ strategies that worked extremely well
in both honing skills for SSB contesting in those that
may have never tried it before *and* preparing a
club's membership for the mayhem that they would be
joining. I'll share one of those strategies here in
hopes that they will be useful to others:
Preface: My background is in VHF contesting (in an
area where signals back then were often 10-15 deep on
146.55 FM). VHF strategies are a bit different so you
will need to ponder how you may apply these in the HF
world)
The Rochester VHF Group used to have an unofficial
committee of cheerleaders. They would use the months
before the January VHF Sweepstakes (the only contest
with a club competition at that time) to offer to
visit other clubs and do a presentation on VHF
contesting. We would talk about the *fun* and
encourage others (from other clubs) to both GOTA for
the contest and to consider joining "The Groupers"
before the contest. We were locally famous for
offering wall-plaques as awards to members as an
incentive to become members and contribute to the club
score.
The presentation was punctuated with examples of the
general fun of VHF (audio recordings of EME signals,
audio of W0ORE/challenger IDing on CW, aurora audio,
etc.) and ended with an Audio Contest whereby paper
logs were handed out and a two-minute "shouting
contest" (really!) ensued. People would shout "CQ
Contest" and attempt to exchange Callsigns and
"Second, Second Initials" (the SECOND letter of their
last name) as multipliers (a total of 26 possible in
English). The "top five" scoring participants would
be recognized at the end.
As "adjudicator" it was fascinating to watch as people
would employ different strategies to be heard as well
as hear. Some people became "rovers" to get closer to
"new activity". Others stood on chairs and made paper
cones to enhance both RX and TX.
Everyone had fun for two minutes (maximum time) and
came away with a new understanding and new skills.
>From memory...in 1979 "The Groupers" fielded over 200
logs. The on-air excitement was unparalleled.
The result? By 1985 we won our first of several ARRL
Gavels.
Regards,
Ev, W2EV
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