[CQ-Contest] CW or SSB FCC says neither.

[Zack Widup]

On Sun, 4 Aug 2002, Bill Coleman wrote:

> On 7/19/02 5:55, Bill Tippett at btippett at alum.mit.edu wrote:
> 
> >Perhaps he would like to demonstrate digital modes are superior by 
> >comparing contest results for existing contests.  Here are high-claimed
> >CQ/RJ WW RTTY scores from last fall's contest:
> >
> >http://lists.contesting.com/pipermail/3830/2001-October/029841.html 
> >
> >The highest number of contacts made by any single op was 2461 QSO's
> >which is not even close to the typical CW or SSB SOAB scores.
> 
> >From this -- what conclusions would you draw? Is this because of the 
> actual characteristics of the operating mode, or is something else a 
> factor?
> 
> Hint: the level of activity on RTTY contests isn't nearly as high as that 
> on CW or SSB. Bottom line is that there are many fewer stations CAPABLE 
> of making RTTY contacts than those that can make CW or SSB contacts.
> 

The new digital modes are far superior to CW or SSB in being able to copy
weak signals.  But they take more time to make a QSO.  If you're trying to
compare rates, that is a factor.  Just like a view camera is far superior
in results to a 35mm camera.  But it takes at least several minutes to set
it up.  It isn't "point and shoot".

So you might say that the digital modes are better than CW or SSB in
having QSO's or ragchews but aren't the best for rapid contest operation.
My favorite is still CW.

73, Zack W9SZ