[CQ-Contest] Voice Keyers

[Robert Kaufmann]

I've been monitoring the Ct-User mail regarding Digital Voice Keyers. As
someone
who enjoys phone contests, I'm interested in the contesting community
reaction
to the following opinion.

Voice keyers seem to me to be an excellent addition to the contesters
armamentarium.
However, I often find that when things get really hectic and rates start to
climb, they can
become more of a liability than an asset. By that I mean that tonal
inflection and speed of
response are very important in pileup control. Voice keyers do not have the
ability to
vary speed very easily and  they don't accent a letter very well when
necessary . ( They
also don't have the ability to say: the alpha bravo- stand by,  delta bravo
ONLY .

I have a K1EA type card and do not use the alphanumeric generator because it
sounds too
mechanical. Sometimes I also get the feeling that people get turned off by
working a
machine rather than a live person. This is especially true in SS ( my
favorite test) when
snagging the casual op is very important.

I'm interested to know if any of the more successful phone ops use it for
more
than as a CQ machine. Its great for that. My feeling is that if I've got to
copy the call
and acknowledge it, I'm halfway there anyway. I might as well say "W1ABC QSL
thanks".


Rob Kaufmann VE4GV
rkaufman at videon.wave.ca



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