No subject

[W8FN at aol.com]

..

In a message dated 95-09-19 07:03:51 EDT, blckhole at ripco.com (Keith
Morehouse-WB9TIY) writes:

>Agreed !  I'm just not near as good as the artists who win CW sprints, 
>which is why I stay away, which was the ORIGINAL subject. <

And I can't play a guitar, so there's no reason to try. That's a helluva
self-defeating attitude!

Do you actually think all the good CW ops were just hatched with high-speed
code proficiency? There was a time when anybody you hear blowing along at 50
'wPM **didn't know the code**. They learned the code, they practiced, and
they eventually got good at it. Looks like a case of the classic 'Murrican
yen for instant gratification to me: If I can't start at the top, I don't
want to do it at all. It may be a trite observation, but Practice Makes
Perfect. I know of no way to improve a skill except to practice it.

Admittedly, the Sprint is a pretty hard-core thing, but there's a lot to be
learned by just jumping in and mixing it up with the really good ops. You'll
learn things by osmosis. And your code speed WILL increase.




>From Bill H Parry <bill at tenet.edu>  Wed Sep 20 03:46:53 1995
From: Bill H Parry <bill at tenet.edu> (Bill H Parry)
Date: Tue, 19 Sep 1995 21:46:53 -0500 (CDT)
Subject: Kenwood web page
Message-ID: <Pine.OSF.3.91.950919214627.4970A-100000 at Gayle-Gaston.tenet.edu>

Worked fine when I tried it.

		Bill, W5VX

On Tue, 19 Sep 1995 PEMS_ST_DK at noeca.ohio.gov wrote:

> Has anyone had success getting to the new stuff in the Kenwood page?
> I can't seem to access their latest newsletter (July/Aug) or the info
> on the TS-870s (which sounds like a great CONTEST radio)
> 
> (I figure this message is at least as trivial as THE name controversy)
> ********************************************************************
> *  W8CAR pems_st_dk at noeca.ohio.gov                                 * 
> *  Dan Kovatch                                                     *
> *  Antennas are the key - BUT an ALPHA sure doesn't hurt!          *
> ********************************************************************
> 
> 

>From janke005 at gold.tc.umn.edu" <janke005 at gold.tc.umn.edu  Wed Sep 20 06:42:57 1995
From: janke005 at gold.tc.umn.edu" <janke005 at gold.tc.umn.edu (janke005 at gold.tc.umn.edu)
Date: Tue, 19 Sep 95 23:42:57 CST
Subject: Participation in CW Sprints
Message-ID: <94412.janke005 at gold.tc.umn.edu>

Do you think that W8FN's flaming response to WB9TIY is gonna do a thing to 
encourage TIY to stick with it and learn by practice?  

I have noticed that there have been several recent messages expressing a 
desire to get more participants in the Sprint.  Flaming a guy who 
expressed an honest frustration isn't gonna do much to keep those of us 
who "test the waters" (the recent Sprints were my first ever).

I understand TIY's frustration.  Although CW speed is not an issue for me, 
keyboarding skills are a major problem.  During the CW Sprint I locked up 
my computer twice because I apparently hit two keys at the same time.  The
second time it happened, I totally lost my temper and physically destroyed 
my keyboard.  The point is that all of us have frustrations as we learn 
the skills needed to effectively participate in a contest.  Some of us may 
choose to express that frustration as discouragement, and flaming the guy 
before offering good advice is counter-productive to the desire expressed 
on this reflector to encourage more participation into the Sprints.
                                           73, Jim Janke


>From C Sim James, KK5EA" <jamescs at mail.auburn.edu  Wed Sep 20 07:05:39 1995
From: C Sim James, KK5EA" <jamescs at mail.auburn.edu (C Sim James, KK5EA)
Date: Wed, 20 Sep 1995 01:05:39 -0500 (CDT)
Subject: CW Sprints
Message-ID: <Pine.SOL.3.91.950920004155.1398A-100000 at mallard>

Fellow Contesters,

    I know that I should give CW much more practice than I have in the past 
so that I can increase in overall speed for the benefit of both my 
*limited* contesting and DXing skills.  But, I think that the CW Sprint 
is a bad place to start because it is a pretty hard core thing as W8FN 
remarked.  Time in a contest is always  a valuable commodity and it is 
only more so in the sprints.  It is my belief that ops tend to be less 
patient in regards to repeats, fills, etc. due to the additional time 
constaints.  I have tried two of the CW sprints and managed only to maybe 
eek out two or three agonizing QSOs (both for me and the ops at the other 
end, apologies to KR0Y/5).  Basically, I have determined that I will 
cultivate my CW skill other places and  *hopefully* come to the CW half 
of the sprints because they are one of my very favorite contests.

73,

Sim, KK5EA/4

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