[CQ-Contest] Great exemplary CW Can Be Fast! All CW is gud

[LRod at pobox.com]

> >why don't they ask me to QRS! I would happily oblidge!!!

I had a conversation the other night with my good friend Dave-of-many-calls. 
We yukked about how he cranks serious QRQ when one of the usual suspects 
calls him, (Fisher, Trey, Steinman, and others), but how he will happily drop to 
even 7 or 8 wpm if asked.

I pointed out to him that even though I might have the patience and skill to sit 
and listen to 3 or 4 (or 5 or 6) exchanges at 35 wpm to preload the info to make 
a QSO with a station, I know plenty of people (as does he; we named names) 
who truly max out at character recognition at 20 or 22, and while they would do 
the same as me, listen to 3 or 4 exchanges at 20 or 22, it is utterly pointless for 
them to at 30 or 35.

I reminded Dave-of-many-calls that for someone like him whose working speed 
is in a range that sounds like packet to me, and who feels like Jeff Gordon with 
a restrictor plate when CQing at 30, that there is much forage to be gleaned 
from the under-20 crowd. And even though he doesn't remember a time when 
high speed CW was hard to copy, it is intimidating to that group. 

Remember, too, that QSOs at 35+ create an intensity, particularly for the great 
unwashed that implies a need to hurry so as not to slow down the QRQ op. No 
one wants him to miss any important Qs, and a contact at 20 takes more than 
twice as long as a contact at 40. Many inexperienced guys would rather slide on 
by than hurt someone's chances. Those who have been around and know what 
real snooze time is available during CQing may chuckle, but that's not what it 
looks like from the other side.

I also reminded Dave-of-many-calls of the technique he described to me for 
thinning the pile from places like HC8, by sending successively faster until the 
pileup got manageable. The reverse works as well.

The point is, when you're really good, it's hard to remember how to be mediocre, 
but if you want all those mediocre Qs, especially on Sunday, it's time to suck it 
up, or for a more consistent metaphor, suck it down. Actively, not just in 
response to a QRS request. 

Soliciting contacts doesn't just mean sending CQ a lot of times, it also means 
making your station workable to someone you haven't worked. Isn't that what a 
contest is about?




73, Rod K4QG     |  It's pronounced
                          |  "jig-a-byte" 
                          |  Look it up.

Never be afraid to try something new; 
remember amateurs built the Ark, 
professionals built the Titanic


--
CQ-Contest on WWW:        http://lists.contesting.com/_cq-contest/
Administrative requests:  cq-contest-REQUEST at contesting.com