[CQ-Contest] More contesting tips and tricks

[Doug Smith W9WI]

On Mon, 2004-12-13 at 18:32, Kelly Taylor wrote:
> As much as I agree with the defensive measures suggested by Doug and Scott
> and do not dispute using them, I wonder:
> 
> In football, an intercepted pass is considered a defensive coup. In soccer,
> a steal is good. In hockey, denying the puck-carrying player a certain part
> of the ice, or blocking, is sound defensive play. In basketball, an opponent
> can knock the ball from my hands run to the other end and score and it's
> considered fair.
> 
> Having been pushed off frequencies by a number of stations bigger and louder
> than I, those who have plopped down next to me and won, how is this kind of
> steal any different? (And I've still shared a friendly beer with these folk
> at Dayton.)

On the other hand, in the Tour de France, Lance Armstrong is not allowed
to try to knock his competitors off their bikes; in the Olympic
Marathon, runners are not allowed to trip the next athlete.  In general,
in these sports you're allowed to take steps to improve your own
performance, but you're not allowed to take steps to inhibit the other
guy's score.  

I would *hope* amateur radio contesting would prefer the Tour de France
model to the basketball model.  
 
> Is not the loss of your run frequency one of the risks you accept as an SO2R
> op? If you can jump back on the frequency and reclaim it, all the power to
> you. But if you can't, perhaps it's not the other guy's fault. And I'm not

Certainly.  However, such a loss should not (IMHO) be the risk of
bumping the wrong key during a CQ, or (as happened to me several times
in the 10-Meter Contest) hearing a response to a CQ just as you hit F1
to call CQ again & had to hit <Esc> to get the caller.  

I think a couple of responders (not you, Kelly) may have misunderstood
my (and I suspect Scott's) position.  If you simply disappear from a
frequency, paying no attention to it whatsoever, you forfeit the "right"
to come back and expect to keep it.  Whether you disappeared for 2
seconds, 10 seconds, 30 seconds, or 15 minutes.  

However, IMHO it's reasonable to expect anyone wishing to take over that
channel to inquire whether it's in use first.  That should be standard
procedure *whenever* you call CQ - whether in a contest or not, and no
matter how long the frequency has been unoccupied.  
-- 
Doug Smith W9WI
Pleasant View (Nashville), TN  EM66
http://www.w9wi.com