[CQ-Contest] Signing /QRP In Contests

[Eric Hilding]

Nat, WZ3AR wrote:

 >> their calls...especially in the ARRL CW DX Contest as DX in February and
 >> most recently in last weekend's 160m contest:
 >>
 > *** ADVANTAGES:         Absolutely NONE
 >
 > *** DISADVANTAGES:      MANY (below)

 > While I agree that they are many disadvantages to signing /QRP, I do think
 > that your statement that there are no advantages to the practice is not
 >entirely accurate. Some advantages include:

You present some logical options, and nothing personal, however...

 > 1. If you are asking a station to QSY to another band, signing /QRP can add
 > a "pity factor" which might induce more stations to make the effort to help
 > you out. (This is not applicable to a 160m-only contest, however).

Trust me...in a DX contest, DX ops (especially CONTEST-Peditions where many 
$$$ have been spent in transportation, shipping and/or QTH-Rental costs), 
there is one, and only ONE objective:  MAXIMUM QSOs & MAXIMUM 
Mults.   There is no time for a "pity party".

 > 2. The addition of /QRP can add a level of recognition to one's call sign.
 > After all, the stations that you worked in this past weekend's contest sure
 > seemed to stick out in your mind (hence your post).

Yes, "negatively" ;-(

The desired "recognition" by the QRP op should be that of being a sharp, 
snappy op who gets done with bizz and moves on... *without* the 
UN-necessary encumberance of a "/QRP" addition to the callsign.  Once 
again, DX stations especially do NOT care.  Methinks the "/QRP" may be more 
of an ego thing..."look what I'm doing here".  IMHO, let the accolades come 
out in the published scores, and do NOT waste other people's time *in* the 
contest!  VE4XT posted a perfect example of why NOT to sign "/QRP".

 > 3. Putting /QRP on the end of your call sign can be a great tool in breaking
 > a large pile up. How many times have you heard a CQing station with a pileup
 > say "ah, the QRP station, go ahead."

HA!  I told the "/QRP" op: "ditch the /QRP in a contest, OM!" ...because I 
found it UN-necessary and quite irritating.

Especially in a fast-paced CW DX Contest, I still believe "/QRP" is an 
UN-necessary encumberance to all.  If I get a partial call, it will be 
"partialcall?", so why give me (or anyone else) a bunch of UN-necessary 
characters to have to deal with?  I wish I had a 1x1 call, but experience 
has shown that 1x1's can also create problems *in* a contest...like people 
think they are still missing the last letter of a 1x2 callsign.  I've heard 
it happen many times...to others during a contest. ARRL FD might be the one 
exception for a 1x1 use where these types of calls are 
expected.  Ooops..sorry, FD is not a contest, but an "operating event".

 > If the practice really bothers you, when someone calls you signing /QRP, you
 > could always sign your call, as my friend Ben, N3UM, suggests, as K6VVA/QRO.

This helps point out, IMHO, the ridiculousness of signing "/QRP" in any 
contest.

First, most loggers are configured to send only ONE callsign, so that won't 
realistically work.

In my very part-time ARRL 160m QRV, sometimes I ran 500w until I started 
setting off the alarm system again.  But even though I'm lumped in with the 
full 1.5KW folks, then maybe it would be K6VVA/500w ... to distinguish 
myself as NOT being "full QRO" ???  Part of the time I had to stay at 100w 
to deal with the whacko alarm problems.  So, I *could*, I guess, change my 
/powerlevel to fit the circumstances of the moment.  Either way, that would 
be self-defeating to the basic concept of getting rid of UN-necessary 
additional characters in a callsign *during* a contest.

With low antennas here down in a valley hole, someone signing "/QRP" 
running 5w to a stacked pair of 5el beams on a big tower on top of a hill 
(non-160m contest), probably has a more potent signal than I do...even 
though I am technically "QRO" according to "rules" which only take into 
account ERP, and not the reality of QTH/Location/Antennae.  That's another 
reason why signing "/QRP" is, IMHO, a waste of time *in* the contest, and, 
in many respects, a misleading designation of "comparative" advantage (or 
disadvantage) in the first place.

I remain firmly pursuaded most non-QRP contest ops simply do not care if a 
guy is QRP or not, and would prefer callsigns to be the "shorter the 
better", especially with crowded band QRM.

In light of the seasonal period we are now in, my final comment on the use 
of "/QRP" in a contest is:   BAH, HUMBUG ;-(

73 & sincere "Happy Holidays" to all...

Rick, K6VVA