[CQ-Contest] CW Speeds in a contest

[Tom HammondNØSS]

Frank Norton, W8HO, wrote:
>I admire ur practices.  I agree with all except perhaps your run rate 
>starting rate seems a bit fast, but as u say, u reduce it if the calls 
>decrease and u do respond to a request to QRS.  I applaud ur contesting 
>methods.

Thanks for your response.

The dedicated contest operator (regardless of who he is) HAS to operate in 
a manner which will benefit his score the most. Otherwise, he cannot be 
competitive. To that end, he must operate at speeds well above the copying 
abilities of many newer operators. Sometimes, a contest really can be won 
by only 2 or 3 more valid QSO's than the other guy has, so it is incumbent 
upon the operator to maximize his score.

In addition to this, an operator who is "running" stations at a high QSO 
rate (lets say anything over 100 Q's/hour) must place himself into the 
'groove' where he can calmly and efficiently operate at the same sending 
speed for an extended period of time. Any significant departure from this 
operating mode tends to get him 'out of step' for a period of time and he 
loses Q's as a result. THIS is the general reason many ops won't QRS down 
for slower ops, FORCING the slower ops to have to take several faltering 
steps in order to copy all of the 'running' stations information.

As I noted in my previous post to the reflector, there's certainly NOTHING 
wrong with being a newbie op, OR even just an op who doesn't quite have his 
copying proficiency up to where he'd really like to have it! AT SOME TIME 
OR OTHER, we ALL had to go thru that stage. And copying the other guy's 
exchange in pieces really IS one of the very best ways to FORCE yourself to 
copy speeds well in excess of what you can presently handle. In fact, 
CONTESTING itself is probably the VERY BEST way to improve your copying 
proficiency... PERIOD! It not only forces you to copy above your head, you 
also ENJOY operating and making the Q's, so you do it WILLINGLY, rather 
than feeling you are forced to do something you don't enjoy.

A few other suggestions while I'm at it (might as well... they're free, and 
I  still have a large empty page in this message just waiting to be filled <G>:

- Learn to operate with a WIDE bandwidth filter instead of a
narrow one! The ONLY time to use a narrow (500Hz or 250Hz)
bandwidth filter is when YOU are really running them and you
have more than ample stations calling, OR when you have a
station who is really being clobbered by another nearby
station!!!

   If you routinely use a narrow CW filter, you will become so
   dependent upon using it that you'll be paralyzed if you find
   yourself in a situation where you don't have access to it, or
   where you actually need a MORE narrow filter and don't have it.
   Additionally, operating with a wid(er) filter forces you to
   learn to 'tune your ears' (actually to teach your brain) to
   UNconsciously 'filter' out nearby interference. This in itself
   has several benefits:

     1) you will be able to mentally pick out the station you want
     to work from several who may be calling you on your operating
     frequency;

     2) you now have MUCH more latitude in picking out the station
     YOU want to work, especially if you have a BUNCH of stations
     calling ON your frequency, to the point that YOU cannot pick
     out one from the other... but you CAN pick out that guy who
     is calling off-freq. by about 300Hz... the guy you'd NEVER
     hear if you were using that 500Hz filter!!!

AS you're tuning up/down the band, LEARN to copy EVERYTHING you
hear AS YOU TUNE. Don't focus strictly on one CW note as you
tune, but learn to listen just as you do to normal voices as you
walk down the street... copy just enough AS you are tuning to be
able to tell whether this might be a station you still need to
work... listen for the callsign suffix, the exchange. If it's
someone you have worked, just continue to tune right past them.
You will eventually get to the point that you DO NOT have to stop
on each QSO and wait until you get every piece of the exchange
before you can decide whether you've worked them or not. It takes
a while to learn, but you can (and will) develop this ability.

Get the 'feel' of the exchange in the contest your are operating.
Once you do this, you can generally tell whether the station
you're tuning thru is the CQing station or the ANSWERING
station.. This is IMPORTANT!! Because, if you're listening to the
ANSWERING station, he's gonna be GONE once the QSO is over and if
you need him, you're NOT gonna be able to work him on THAT
frequency...! MANY TIMES I've found a station or section I
needed, only to find that he was ANSWERING the other guy...
Knowing I couldn't beat out the CQing station (heck, I seldom
beat out ANYONE), I'd place myself in the first (semi-)empty spot
1-2 kHz ABOVE the CQing station and start calling CQ myself. With
any luck, the station I needed will fall right into my trap and
call me as he tunes past my CQ.

DEVELOP your SEARCH 'N POUNCE ABILITIES!!! I've gotta admit...
for at least 30 of the last 40 years I've been contesting, I've
been pretty decent at "running 'em", but I've not been worth a
darn at FINDING 'em! If they came to me, I was in hog heaven, but
if it was up to me to put forth the effort to find and work them,
I really sucked. THEN... I started QRP contesting!! Suddenly, I
was in a world where I could no longer HOLD a frequency
(remember, I'm in the Midwest with a dipole and a tribander!). If
I was to be the least bit productive, I HAD to go out and work
for my Q's. In the last three years, since I began QRP
contesting, my S&P proficiency has improved probably 400%...
maybe more! I now find that I'm a more well-rounded operator
(Please - NO comments about my personal physical stature from
those who know me), and that I'm MUCH more able to hunt down
those missing mults I need than I was before I crossed the line
to QRP. I realize I'll have to continue to work on my S&P
techniques, but being forced into having to really USE those
techniques was the best thing that ever happened to me. And, they
will serve me well when I'm operation QRO as well.

WORK EVERY CALLER... regardless of how slow he sends, or whether
you might have to QRS for him... granted, you may have to make
him wait for you to run thru a bunch of the faster calling
stations, but if he's patient enough to wait you out, WORK HIM...
and AT HIS SPEED if necessary! We NEED every CW operator we can
find! And we need to at least attempt to make them feel welcome
into not only the hobby itself, but into this PORTION of the
hobby... contesting. The very LAST thing we need to do is be so
callous that we do the very opposite and ALIENATE new ops to this
most enjoyable facet of out hobby!

>Further, I hope there are others who are not afraid to join u on the 
>soapbox!  We really do need "fishing" methods for CW contesting newbies, 
>and u had some very intriguing methods in ur post.

We have, in our midst, some who will jealously guard their 'trade secrets', 
and others who will gladly give them up for the benefit of the game. I hope 
we have more of the latter, and that they will also help shed some light 
upon how they improve their operating.

73,

Tom Hammond   N0SS


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