[CQ-Contest] CW speed - send vs. copy

[Randy Thompson]

Good questions Dan! Here is what works for me.

Call the guy at a speed you are comfortable with.  If he is going too fast,
append QRS to the end of your call.  To a good op, this is a signal to
exactly match your sending speed. If the guy doesn't slow down, just spin
the dial.

If you don't send the QRS, then you won't always get guys to slow down.  It
is amazing how many guys call me slow, I send the exchange at normal speed,
and they QSL it.  So the default is not to slow down.

Randy, K5ZD

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Dan Levin [mailto:djl at andlev.com]
> Sent: November 17, 1998 1:19 AM
> To: cq-contest at contesting.com
> Subject: [CQ-Contest] CW speed - send vs. copy
> 
> 
> 
> Ok, I admit it.  I can't copy code very fast.  Maybe 15 wpm, 
> on a good day,
> if I know the format of the exchange.
> 
> But I got on for SS CW to help the club, and now I can 
> imagine getting on in
> a very casual way for other CW contests - just to give out a Q to the
> deserving.
> 
> For SS, I could hang out in the slow speed portion of 15 
> meters (well, on
> Saturday I could), and call CQ at 15 wpm.  Worked great - 
> very few folks
> called me faster than I could copy.
> 
> But S&P was another matter.  How to deal with folks running 
> along at 25+ wpm
> when I am a slow-poke?
> 
> Now, I am not stupid.  I wasn't trying to call folks with a 
> pile-up - I was
> almost always the only person calling.   Most of my S&P was 
> Sunday, when
> everyone's rate was lousy anyway.  Most ops, to their credit, did an
> excellent job of replying at a reasonable speed - they CQ at 
> 25+, I drop my
> call at 15, they send me the exchange at 15.
> 
> So far, so good.
> 
> Now what do I do?  Do I send my exchange at 15, or at 25?  That is the
> question.
> 
> Seems to me that I should probably send it as fast as I think 
> they can copy
> (using a computer to do the sending, so the fist is good) - saves the
> running station time.  But it is a small hassle for me (to 
> change speed back
> and forth), and if I need to actually send by hand (for a 
> fill, say) it will
> be slow (I can't send fast by hand) and if I ask them to 
> repeat something, I
> want them to understand clearly that I need the reply in slow motion.
> 
> Here is a chance for you serious CW types to train me - 
> eventually I will
> get my speed up, but in the meantime how should I behave?
> 
> Thanks,
> 
>             ***dan
>             Dan Levin, N6BZA
> 
> 
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