[CQ-Contest] The battle of the callsigns

Fri Jan 21 12:19:34 EST 2005

Again, I don't think that this topic is a strict numbers game.  At
35-40wpm ae5e is difficult to copy unless sent VERY carefully, which
might take longer than your estimation.  Second, you've got to factor in
lids like me who require that you sign ae5e at 20wpm before my thick
skull gets it.  That wastes a lot of time.  How do you propose to factor
that in?

The shortest available US callsigns are actually a5e and n5e.

And why the assumption that only big US stations are sending at 35 wpm?

73 de Al, KE1FO

Al Frugoli

Service Coordinator, CVS

Champlain Vocational Services

512 Troy Ave, Suite 2

Colchester, VT 05446

(802) 655-0511 ext 108  (802) 655-5207 (Fax)

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-----Original Message-----
From: cq-contest-bounces at contesting.com
[mailto:cq-contest-bounces at contesting.com] On Behalf Of CT1BOH - José
Carlos Nunes
Sent: Friday, January 21, 2005 2:01 AM
To: cq-contest at contesting.com
Subject: [CQ-Contest] The battle of the callsigns

It is known that the outcome of a contest performance is determined by
three main factors:

  1.. Geographical location
  2.. Operating skill
  3.. Station performance

What perhaps it not so well know, there is a callsign battle going on,
and this factor is also of great importance to the final outcome of the
contest.

With the help of an audio spectrum analyzer, I determined the length of
some well know calls, at 35 and 40 WPMs.

Also I collected data from P40E CQWW CW 2003 operation. In this
operation, according to my logging software, I pushed F1 button (TEST
P40E) 5605 times. Although the program did not record how many times I
pushed F4 (P40E) button, taking into account the 8183 QSO's, let's
assume, the overall number (F1+F4) is around 10.000 times, which if
anything, it is a conservative number.

With all this information, let's check how long different calls take,
and it's impact in the final score:

@40 WPM

P40E = 1,593 second * 10.000/60/60= 4,43 hours

D4B=1,031 seconds *10.000/60/60= 2,86 hours

ZD8Z=1,655 seconds*10.000/60/60= 4,60 hours

So the battle of the callsigns is won by D4B.

D4B callsign will give the operator a 1,56 hour advantage over P40E
(3,25% of the contest time) and a 1,73 hour advantage over ZD8Z in the
contest

P40E is the shortest callsign available to foreigners in Aruba, so there
is nothing more to be done regarding this subject.

ZD8Z would gain a bit had he chosen ZD8E instead of ZD8Z.

Let's now check some calls in the USA. Let's continue to assume the USA
stations broadcast their calls 10.000 times, but now at 35 WPM

KQ2M 1,867 *10.000/60/60=5,19 hours

K5ZD 1,584 *10.000/60/60=4,40 hours

N9RV 1,660 *10.000/60/60=4,61hours

K1AR 1,659 *10.000/60/60=4,61hours

Now what if all these USA stations instead of using their callsigns
would rather use, one of the shortest USA calls: AE5E

AE5E 0,883*10.000/60/60=2,45 hours

What would be the gain in hours be and the respective % in the total
contest time (48 hours):

KQ2M 2,73 hours 5,7%

K5ZD 1,95 hours 4,1%

N9RV 2,16 hours 4,5%

K1AR 2,16 hours 4,5%

It is quite impressive. Just by choosing a shorter call, KQ2M would have
almost 6% more of available time. That's a lot of time and points to the
final score.

And what about those famous MM callsign that relentlessly broadcast
their calls over the air. Well because they operate MM the total
operating time is not 48 hours but the sum of the operating time on all
the six bands. I have no data regarding how many times they broadcast
their callsigns, but lets guess it is 30.000 times.

W3LPL 2,223 seconds*30.000/60/60=18,53 hours

K3LR 1,659 seconds*30.000/60/60=13,83 hours

KC1XX 2,503 seconds*30.000/60/60=20,86 hours

K9NS 1,587 seconds*30.000/60/60=13,23 hours

Would they rather use AE5E call this would be their gain in hours:

W3LPL 11,17 hours

K3LR 6,47 hours

KC1XX 13,50 hours

K9NS 5,87 hours

It is funny how both KC1XX and W3LPL calls are lousy contest calls
(judged only by the time it takes to transmit it). Of course they are
well know, and there are advantages, but they would be better off
switching definitely to a shorter call, like AE3E or AE1E or AE9E

Anyway, the point is, if your objective is records, winning, etc, the
quickest way to boost your score is choosing the shortest contest call
available.

73, José Nunes, CT1BOH, www.qsl.net/ct1boh

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