[CQ-Contest] The battle of the callsigns

[BobK8IA at aol.com]

This has been an interesting thread to say the least! I beleive Riki has  
touched on some very important issues. I recall the first time I heard EI5HE  
come at me under some QRM. I, as a reasonably proficient cw op, was even  stopped 
dead in my tracks for a moment. Like "what the heck was THAT?" ;-) ;-).  I 
then finished the  qso and said, "that's a cool call.....but maybe not". 
 
Riki's observations re "K" at the end of a call hold strongly true for  me, 
unless its some call I recognize from previous contesting etc.
 
This thread brought back some wonderful memories of 1976 when the FCC  opened 
up the 1X2 block to all Extras at the time who wished to switch calls.  The 
first of what eventually became "vanity" calls. I can recall sitting at the  
local DX club, with others,tossing around what the criteria of our "list of  
calls" would be. (You gave the FCC a list of 5 or 10, I think, virtually assured  
you would be assigned one of them since this was the first group of licensees 
 allowed to switch). I recall saying, "I want a suffix that has some  decent 
rhythm, low baud count but no "E" and doesnt end in a "dit". I  lucked out as 
I got my first choice. So did many others then as the 1X2 block  was nearly 
unassigned, except for the real OT's.
 
CU all on CQWW 160 cw test next wekend. Listen close...I am not K7IA, hi. 
 
 
73, Bob  K8IA
nr The Superstition Mtns
Arizona, USA



http://members.aol.com/bobk8ia/ 



In a message dated 1/22/05 4:56:28 AM US Mountain Standard Time,  
k7nj at zahav.net.il writes:

The  length of the callsign is certainly a factor as so aptly explained by
Jose.  However, some combinations and positions of letters can be confusing  -
especially in high speed CW or CW that is not sent perfectly, or  when
received by a less experienced person. One example is call signs  ending in
"K" (is the "K" in his call, or did he mean "over?). Another one  is calls
ending in "E".  For example if the first letter is "N" and  the last letter
is "E" like in "N4TE", it may be perceived as "R4T". Of  course, there are
many other problematical combinations of letters. Some  calls simply don't
have a good rhythm to them - they just don't sound  right. Whenever a short
call has any of these idiosyncrasies, the  disadvantages they cause can more
than offset any advantage of being  short.
73,
riki :-)
K7NJ - 4X4NJ