[CQ-Contest] Re: Newbie Contesting

[Bill Coleman AA4LR]

On 12/12/98 4:42 PM, Bill Fisher, W4AN at w4an at contesting.com wrote:

[ Bill made some excellent points, but unfortunately, he left out 
Leslie's email address, so I'll follow up to the list and hope that 
Leslie gets it ]

>>        Then should I respond with:
>>        W4AN DE KD5DYY/T  U R 59 TX   59 TX  K  (or do I also need a
>>        serial #)

The exchange depends on the contest. For the ARRL 10m, US and Canadian 
stations send their state / province. But DX stations send a serial 
number. So that may have confused you, if you heard DX stations sending 
serial numbers.

>>       or would it be more appropriate to respond with:
>>        W4AN UR 59 TX 59 TX K   (and assume he knows that KD5DYY is
>responding?)
>
>No need to send my callsign.  I know my callsign.  No need to send "UR".
>It doesn't add any value to the QSO.  It only slows you and me down.  No
>need to send "K", I'll know when you are done sending.  

You'll see that contesters are very much minimalists when it comes to 
sending something. Send (or speak) only what is absolutely necessary.

>>Several times I have sat for hours listening and been unable to figure out
>>the exchange. I also am trying to figure out what the proper "protocol" is.
>>Most of the very experienced contesters key SO MUCH faster than I do, that
>>it's a blur of dits and dahs!

Well, THIS extra class operator knows how you feel. I've been working on 
my CW off and on over the last year. Sure, I can copy 20 wpm code, no 
problem. But as you found, most contest CW is a lot faster. 

If someone is going way too fast, you can ask him/her to QRS, or if it is 
really fast, you may want to skip them for the moment. Find someone 
closer to your speed. A lot of contesters change their CW speed based on 
their contact rate. When lots of people are calling, they tend to crank 
the speed up. 

The only thing that builds up CW speed is practice, practice and 
practice. Most of these folks that run 40+ wpm in a contest spent their 
youth doing CW for endless hours, day after day. To them, CW is just like 
a language. They hear it and understand. 

>>I know that over time I will improve,
>>however, I would like to get involved in contesting and I want to learn the
>>proper way to do things from the start. That way I'm not trying to unlearn
>>bad habits or, worse yet, I sound like a lid!  

Like Bill said, one way is to ask questions. Another is to participate in 
contests and other operating activities. The more you operate, the more 
skilled you'll become and the less you'll sound like a lid.




Bill Coleman, AA4LR, PP-ASEL        Mail: aa4lr at radio.org
Quote: "Not within a thousand years will man ever fly!"
            -- Wilbur Wright, 1901

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