[CQ-Contest] How to finish a CW Sprint QSO (revisited)

[Tree]

Someone mentioned that the link to this posting was not working and it 
appears some of the September 1998 archives of cq-contest are a little
messed up.

However, I did find that someone posted a copy of it to another list 
and google had it cached.  The content is still very valid today and 
worth another look.  I did take the liberty of making a few edits.

Also - DON'T FORGET THE NEW SEVEN DAY LOG SUBMISSION DEADLINE!!  If you 
have a special situation that will prevent you from submitting your log
in time, please let me know and we will see what can be done.

CW Sprint - September 7th UTC (6th local) 0000 - 0359:59.99.
Phone Sprint - September 14th UTC (13th local) same time.

73 Tree N6TR
tree at kkn.net

Date: Thu, 3 Sep 1998 13:22:26 -0400 (EDT) 
From: Tree N6TR <n6tr at teleport.com> 
To: cq-contest at contesting.com 
Subject: [CQ-Contest] More sprint musings 

Today's topic is how to finish the QSO. This isn't typically a big deal in 
contests, but in the sprint, it can be. 

The problem occurs when the person who is leaving the frequency does 
not confirm receiving the exchange from the station who is going to 
keep the frequency. This occurs during the following sequence: 

STN A: CQ NA K7RAT K7RAT NA 
STN B: k7rat de n6tr 
STN A: N6TR K7RAT NR 1 BERT ORE 
STN B: K7RAT NR 1 TREE ORE N6TR 

At this point, it would be very nice if STN A would confirm receiving the 
exchange by sending something like "TU" or "dit-dit" or even "73". 

In a normal contest, this is done by STN A saying something like "TU K7RAT 
TEST". But since STN A has to move at least 5 kHz before he can CQ again, 
this doesn't occur. 

In the past, some of the big gun sprint operators would split once 
they had the QSO number (assuming they knew what the name and QTH were). 
This practice has been discouraged and there are now a number of people 
who will actually REMOVE THE QSO from the log if the confirmation isn't 
heard. 

It does put STN B in an odd position. If he feels like the QSO might not 
have taken place - he has two choices: 

1. Leave the QSO in the log. 
2. Remove the QSO. 

If he removes the QSO, he will lose one QSO (since it isn't in his log any 
more). If he leaves it in, he might get to keep the QSO if the other station 
shows the QSO in their log (or doesn't send in a log), but runs the risk of 
losing the QSO later with a two QSO penalty if it doesn't appear in the other 
log. 

If his doubt is 50 percent, he will be money ahead if he removes it. 

Now the other station can lose the QSO and penalty instead!! 

So - to avoid all of this, please be sure to stick around long enough to let 
the other guy know that you got the exchange.  It is also helpful if the 
stations who are about to call STN B will "hold their breath" a second to 
allow the "QSL" message to be clearly heard (or request for repeat).

On a different topic - sending BOTH callsigns in the exchange is required by 
the rules. This is the only contest I know of that requires this. It is 
necessary to make sure you are talking to who you think you are in all of 
the confusion. 

73 and hope to see you on three bands 

Tree N6TR / K7RAT 


PS: For extra credit, can you figure out why STN A sent his callsign 
near the start of the exchange and STN B waited until the end??