[CQ-Contest] The whys, wherefores, and warm fuzzies of duping

[Allan & Bridget]

I know many of you will roll your eyes and say "puleeze" but perhaps it's my
sworn duty as a YL to discuss dupes in another light.  :-)  This is not
going to be a treatise on whether or not one should log dupes; it's more
about why that pesky person calls you so many times and makes you wonder
where the "Twilight Zone" is actually located.

First of all, I almost always work the dupes and move on...as many have
said, crowded bands and weak signals can mean that the other person didn't
really work you the first time around, or missed your call.  Many times on a
crowded band I can work two stations simultaneously and will have to move my
VFO just a bit to find out who else I worked...I wonder how often I don't
realize that two people are working me?  I'm especially paranoid on
160m...imagine hearing K4YT and then realizing that it's not someone
miscopying my call, it's K4YT!  I'm sure Karl sometimes wishes I'd go the
vanity route.  =)

I've found, however, that there are other reasons people call in several
times:
1) there is a glitch in the logging software or it hasn't been
     properly configured (and on this note, my apologies to W1TM
     during SS...)
2)  you are loud and you are there
3)  you have good ears/equipment and the person is excited that
     someone actually hears him/her
4)  the person doesn't recognize your voice (happens all the time
     when Allan and I multiop) and disassociates it with the call
5)  the person is neither contesting nor logging
6)  you are a new entity, state, prefix, whatever for the person
     who has been waiting years to hear you and can't believe you
     were so easy to work
7)  the person is lonely in spite of there being a crowded band

Obviously I'm more than a casual contester but not quite to the level of
"serious contester".  If the rates are slow and the condx are such that I
can hear the duper well, I will often stop and talk to him...this usually
makes the person feel good and the dupes on his part cease.  If the exchange
doesn't include serial numbers then I'll merely give them the
section/exchange and not put them down (this is after dupe #2 has long
gone)...my husband often thanks the station for whatever state/section
he/she is in before the person gives it to him, which usually raises a flag
that something is different about the contact.

It makes my day, however, when someone with whom I exchange reports knows my
name, so I can imagine that the dynamics of contesting might make a
non-contester feel a little less like a person and more like a point.  A
local old timer who is in his 80s recently drove himself to a hamfest about
three hours away.  He came back appalled because people were driving at
least 70 mph on the interstate...I have a feeling that some people might
feel the same during a contest.  (Note to those who are not familiar with
U.S. traffic rules: 70 mph is currently the usual speed limit on
interstates, whereas several years ago the speed limit was 55 mph)

Does this mean I'm advocating having a rag-chew with someone who has called
in 7 times during the last hour?  Not necessarily.  I hope, however, that if
I'm ever 80 years old and decide to brave the interstate at speeds of 55 mph
that people will merely pass me and will not try to run me off the road. =)
73,
Bridget, KS4YT
"Vocatvs atque non vocatvs Deus aderit."
--"Invited or not invited, God is always present."


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