[CQ-Contest] sharp filters

[Mark Beckwith]

>Does the group have a consensus

When I was young and impressionable I remember being taught to tune around
so as not to miss those operators not saavy enough to get on my frequency.
I was never ever advised to pretend I didn't hear them until they got closer
to my frequency.

I think it is optimistic to think that SOME people will ever learn how to
get on the frequency of the station they want to call.

Two other things to think about:

1. If I'm working a rare or desirable station, I may work him sooner if I'm
not zero beat.

2. If two different stations are calling me at the same time, I prefer for
at least one of them to not be zero beat.

If the question is "what is better, narrow or sharp filters?" you definitely
won't find consensus!  This is a mater of operator preference with many
differing opinions, and has come up over the years.

I use narrow filters to set up a CQ frequency (read "elbow my way in")
banking on the fact that my personal filters/radios/tuning mastery is better
than the people 300 Hz on either side of me.  Sometimes they are.

Mark, N5OT