[CQ-Contest] CW Speeds in a contest

Wed Jan 2 00:39:13 EST 2002

I'll QRS for someone if I don't have any other callers, and it "feels" like
it will be beneficial to slow down.  Sometimes you get the guys calling in
at 10 wpm who really don't care about the contest exchange.  Slowing down
for them does nothing but waste time.  Usually I just use my judgement.  If
I have a raging pileup, I'll crank it up to about 40wpm or more.  This
usually thins things out, and the rate goes way up.  BUT... and a big one at
that, is that a lot of DX stations (mults!) are not QRQ freaks.  Going fast
may make a possible mult just skip right on by you.  But if you're running a
large pileup, it's probably not worth it to slow down.  If I have decent
rate, but don't have a caller after every QSO, speeding up is probably a bad
idea.  Kind of off topic here, but during large pileups I want guys to send
their call once and ONLY once.  But sometimes I will take a few seconds to
listen to who is in my pileup.  Usually I pick out a whole bunch of partial
calls and "listen" for the weaker guys.  I can't count how many times this
has resulted in several mults I would have otherwise missed!

As for CW Speed, just use your judgement.  Running a pileup and milking a
band are totally different skills.  It all depends on conditions, and the
quality of ops that you are working.  I found that during WAE CW as soon as
I showed up on 15m, I could pretty much go as fast as I wanted and still
have 50 guys calling.  within 30 or 45 minutes, the pile was gone, and I had
to slow down to about 32 or 34 wpm.  When coming onto 10 meters on saturday
morning or afternoon, the stateside pileup is going to be really fast.
Crank it up.  Milking 20 meters... slow down to about 28 or 30.  Ragchewing,
35 to 50... depending on who you're talking to. :)

Contesting from the states is completely different from contesting in the
semi-DX QTH of Alaska.  I have found that I need to go slower to get answers
in the states.  During CQWW CW, milking the band between EU and JA was
almost more tedious than running Europe.  Working JA was more painful than
anything I've ever experienced.  :)

Go as fast as you want.  Anything under about 25 wpm is probably not going
to help you unless you're on a band like 160 or 80.  Even then going slow is
sometimes bad... I prefer guys going fast when they're weak!!  Going slow
when I say AGN AGN is only going to make it harder.

Sending 5NN at 45wpm is stupid.  It's more fun by hand anyway!

73, CU in ARRL RU and NAQP CW
-Chris KL9A
http://www.qsl.net/kl9a
kl9a at qsl.net

----- Original Message -----
From: "Bruce B. Sawyer" <zf2nt at candw.ky>
To: <cq-contest at contesting.com>
Sent: Tuesday, January 01, 2002 3:37 PM
Subject: [CQ-Contest] CW Speeds in a contest

>
> Frank, W8HO, wrote:
> >My questions are: What do u consider appropriate rates for CW sending?
Are
> >there different standards for rag chewing and contesting?  Are you sure
> >that ur contesting rate is appropriate to get the most bang for ur
run-time
> >frequency?  Do u listen to those who ask for u to QRS, or simply ignore
> >them and continue at ur usual run rate if their request is not sent at
very
> >close to ur usual send rate, waiting for the faster QSO?
>
> This is a VERY interesting question, and I wish I knew the answer.  It's
one
> that perplexes me constantly.
>
> I once posed this question to one of the better-known Voodudes, and his
> answer was that they had found they got the most throughput at 33 wpm.
That
> kind of surprised me, but the more I watch the more I think he is right
> about this.  I have noticed that the pile-up starts getting a little
frantic
> when I'm going at 36 wpm, and at 37 wpm I get people just blasting calls
out
> of sequence irrespective of what I'm saying.  So I've learned to keep it
to
> a max of 35 except for the first couple of hours when I'm on a new band.
> Then I'll go at 36 or 37, because I know what I'm doing is getting the
real
> contesters out of the way.  After they're in the log, then I have to start
> pulling out the DXers and casuals, so I slow down.  I've been trying to
push
> myself down toward 33 or 32 once the rate slows down, but it's painful.
I'd
> almost rather not contest than have to go that slowly.
>
> There very definitely is a different speed for rag-chewing than for
> contesting.  I'm always set much higher for rag-chewing than when
> contesting.  After all, in a contest you need the points and so have to
beg
> EVERYBODY.  That means you've got to slow down.  When you're just
> rag-chewing, you get to pick and choose whom you answer.  Also, I think
it's
> easier to copy at higher speeds in conversational mode than when you're
> trying to pull calls out of a pile-up.  You're already tuned in on the guy
> at the other end...you usually don't have a lot of QRM...and if you miss
> even a whole word you often figure it out in a few seconds just from
> context.  When you're trying to copy call signs, you have to copy every
> character correctly.
>
> And as far as this point of people coming along and asking to QRS...I
still
> feel that the person CQing sets the speed.  If I'm really serious about a
> particular contest and out for a score, I'll do anything [legal] to get
> points in the log.  So yes, if I'm serious about the contest (happens only
a
> few times a year), if the rate is slow, and somebody asks me to slow down,
> I'll do it.  Otherwise, though, I just ignore the request.  My honest
> feeling is that he shouldn't be calling me if he doesn't like my speed.
But
> there are some people who will sit there and send "QRS" over and over,
even
> while I'm working other stations.  Perverts!
>
> As a parenthetical comment, I would say the practice that gripes me the
most
> on this issue of speed is this business of people changing speeds in the
> middle of an exchange.  For some reason, the Europeans seem to love to do
> this.  I'll get a 5NN blasted at me at 45 wpm, then the meaningful info at
> half that speed.  As soon as I hear the high speed stuff, my brain kicks
> into a different gear and I get ready for high speed code.  Then when they
> slow down, it's another shock of mental readjustment.  I don't need that.
> Often, I'll go back to people who do this and ask for the report again,
> saying I can't copy at that speed.  Drives 'em nuts... the guys who do
this
> usually can't send anything by hand.
>
> Bruce, ZF2NT
>
>
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