[CQ-Contest]

[Kenneth E. Harker]

On Mon, Apr 05, 2004 at 11:22:48AM -0400, Darryl Wagoner WA1GON wrote:
> Greetings,
> 
> I have been playing with contesting for a few years now mainly S&P.  One
> of the questions I have is about "claiming a freq" and calling CQ.  The
> way that I have been doing it is:
> 
> 1.  Find a quite freq.
> 2.  Listen for about 60 seconds.
> 3.  Ask if the freq is in uses.
> 4.  Start calling CQ.
> 
> But it strikes me that there maybe another station on same freq. Which I
> can hear, but some others may be able to hear.  Am I interfering with
> other station?  If not am I doing a disservice to myself?  Should I even
> being worrying about this?

There is no way to guarantee that you will avoid this.  In fact, it is a very 
common problem in six meter contesting, and not uncommon on ten meters, 
where the skip zones or Eskip paths can be very sharp.  It can also happen on 
40SSB or 75SSB split, where you may inadvertently choose the same listening 
frequency as another W/VE contester.

The thing to do is to learn to recognize it when it happens.  If someone 
calls, but the timing of their call doesn't sound right, maybe given them 
an extra long exchange by throwing your callsign in with the rest of the 
information.  If they are half-way through sending their exchange when you 
unkey, you can conclude that they are not working you.  You can also ask 
stations to repeat your callsign or ask them if your frequency is clear.
The sooner you recognize the situation, the sooner you can make decisions 
about how to deal with the situation.

If you do find yourself sharing a frequency with another station you cannot
hear or hear very well, you can choose to leave (expecially if you just got 
there) or decide to stay (if your rate is excellent despite the interference 
and you were there first.)

-- 

(Note: I have changed my primary personal email account.  Please replace
 your address book or alias listings of kharker at cs.utexas.edu with 
 kenharker at kenharker.com.  Thanks! - 31 March 2004)

--
Kenneth E. Harker WM5R
kenharker at kenharker.com
http://www.kenharker.com/