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

[Pete Smith]

At 10:18 PM 11/16/98 -0800, Dan Levin wrote:
>
>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?

I would go ahead and send your exchange at 15 -- otherwise you risk exactly
the sort of confusion you describe.  The time saved is minimal -- on the
order of a second or two for the difference between 15 and 25 WPM, for
cleanly sent exchanges without repeats or superfluous stuff.  Often on
Sunday during SS I would call CQ at 20 WPM, be answered by a high-speed op,
and speed up to match him - but I can copy fast CW.  Till you can, stay slow.

A somewhat related issue, that I find really perplexing.  There are a lot
of QRP stations on during SS, but I was surprised to find that the average
quality of the operating was lower than from any other group.  It wasn't
just new hams, either. Inaccurate hand-sent CW was the most common problem,
along with procedural boggles like sending "/" between # and Precedence,
multiple unpredictable repeats, exchange in wrong order, etc.  

It is obviously in the QRPer's best interest not to complicate the problem
caused by their (mostly) weak signals, yet many of them seemed not to
realize this. 




73,  Pete N4ZR
Loud is good


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