[CQ-Contest] Spot Abuse - An Intermediate Suggestion

[K4RO Kirk Pickering]

On Thu, Dec 13, 2007 at 07:52:38PM -0800, Ward Silver wrote:
> OF COURSE they want the full call.  So what?  They would have to listen for 
> 10 seconds and not barge in and out like an over-sugared two-year-old? 
 

Ward, you almost made me spit my coffee out OM! :-)

Does anybody remember a skill called IDENTIFYING STATIONS?

It works like this.  We TUNE the band, and when we hear a signal, 
we try to IDENTIFY IT.  That means determining the call sign of 
the station.  Sometimes it is easy. Sometimes it is quite difficult.
It can even be impossible under some circumstances.  This is the
NUMBER ONE SKILL a radio contester should develop in my opinion -- 
determining the call sign of a signal heard.

If someone else is performing the task of IDENTIFYING STATIONS for us,
they are essentially DOING OUR WORK FOR US. This is true whether they 
are sitting next to us in the same room, or are across the globe at
the other end of a network. I don't know how we seem to have lost sight 
of this fundamental radio contesting skill.

Radio contesting is about working stations, and the very first skill 
one needs to learn is how to accurately identifying a signal heard. 
Learn and practice this skill often, and you will be on your way 
towards some real contesting satisfaction.

73

-Kirk  K4RO