[CQ-Contest] Callsign (dis)Advatages

[Chuck]

--- Dennis McAlpine <dennis.mcalpine at verizon.net>
wrote: ...you how many QSOs went to the credit of
W1DY.  I assume that the same problem exists with
"T".

de K3FT

Wayyy back.. (in the foggy dim past of 1978, when
I passed my Extra and had the choice of selecting
a call) I did some hard thinking about what call
to select. Since I prefer CW contests, I was
looking for a 1X2 that tended to be less
confusing on CW but would do reasonably well on
SSB.

I found that stations with 1X2 that had a letter
ending in a DAH or just a 'T' tended to have less
recognition problems, in toto, than those who
didn't have such an ending.  The 'trailing dits'
issue was one that was well known and made me
cast out many callsign possisbilities that I had
been considering.

I also took into account the 'rhythm' factor in
the sending as well as the vocal rhythm that came
from saying the callsign in various phonetic
combinations. That lead me to choose the FT
suffix.  But.. as we all know.. YOUR MILEAGE MAY
VARY! HI!

The 'F-T' combo (along with other such
combinations) tended to work better because
everyone knows that all US calls (save the
special events) MUST have at least 2 letters in
the suffix. So if they get the 'F' and then a 'T'
without anything else it tends to be less screwed
up. 

Plus as was previously noted, the brain tends to
hear that DAH and if it is in the suffix of a
callsign it tends to be already primed to
recognize it as the 'end' of hte suffix.

Anyway.. that was my thinking and it seems to be
anecdotally true. Of course, being active, being
known, and being strong all add to the
recognition factor as well.

73
Chuck K3FT



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