[CQ-Contest] LogChks (my Dad was right!!)

[W1HIJCW at aol.com]

Interesting comments re the sources of error in SS logs. I was hit with a 
whopping penalty in the CW SS and after getting over my shock, spent a while 
trying to uncover the sources of the mistakes.

The one which was unexpected was the one which Jim Reisert pointed out -- 
inaccurate typing. I found two kinds of mistakes that I made in 
"mis-logging", one was the finger shift that Jim describes -- and the other 
was a short term memory problem coupled with poor typing ...

Scenario: You're copying away in your head and typing, trying to watch the 
keyboard, watch the screen, and ride the RIT or VBT at the same time --- you 
realize you made a typing mistake and back up to correct it -- by that time, 
the exchange is over and someone else is calling, so now you have to split 
your mind in a couple of sections (Time Division Multiple Access, I think 
they call it), so that one part copies and stores the new QSO while the other 
part completes recording the previous QSO. I found that I made two types of 
errors in these circumstances: one was that the increased pressure of being 
"behind" increased the chance of hitting the wrong key; the other was that 
the brain part which was doing the copying of the "new" QSO turns out to have 
VERY volatile memory, easily confused by what the fingers are recording from 
the "previous" QSO.

Oh, what was my Dad right about??  When I was in high school, he often said 
to me, "take a typing class, it'll be useful all your life". HA!, little did 
he know! I never did of course, and still type in a semi touch way.  For the 
record, he was W1HIK and never was a contester.

73,
Bill, W1HIJ  (/6 in CQP)


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