[CQ-Contest] "please copy"

[Tom HammondNØSS]

matt, K7BG writes to Jim Funk:

>I feel your pain. I heard the same thing. I also heard one of our ops S&Ping
>with the last three letters of the club call. I thought I would try and take
>a stab at changing their operating habits, but when I asked, "Do you operate
>HF much?", one said "not at all," so I didn't bother. I think these guys
>must be having fun otherwise, why would they come out, but it sure is hard
>to be in the concert hall when most of the piano players seem to be playing
>with their feet. Maybe I should be more forthright in trying to "correct"
>them, but I just can't seem to bring myself to do it so I just sit by and
>bite my tongue.

We have a pre-FD meeting about 2-3 days before the weekend. At that time, 
we try to give any new ops, or any old ops who still persist, 'suggestions' 
on what to say and what NOT to say... with particular attention to what NOT 
to say. For the most part, it seems to work pretty well, though some will 
revert, regardless of what they know is right.

Of course, we Do have to remember that this is a TRAINING EXERCISE and not 
a contest, so should be willing to 1) cut everyone some slack, and 2) 
attempt to further "suggest" possibly better (e.g. more 
appropriate/efficient) methods of getting the information passed without 
unnecessary verbiage. But I don't necessarily think that it's all that 
appropriate to correct them WHILE they're on the air (unless they wish to 
be), and often in front of a number of their friends. Doing so can often 
cause you to lost an otherwise good operator.

73,

Tom Hammond   N0SS