[CQ-Contest] Good contact, back to you

[Robert Chudek - K0RC]

QSL, okay guys... BUT... the article starts out "You're new to HF, you have 
a transceiver, and you have an antenna up. Now what?"

Man, you guys are brutal! After looking at the suggested exchanges the 5th 
time, the only thing I would change is the proper phonetic for the letter K. 
It's kilo, not kilowatt. Someone pointed that out in their example. My call 
is a K and when I first got it, I made the same mistake!

A few months ago I invited a new General over to my shack. I told him to 
bring his radio along and we'd hook it up to my antennas. He had not 
transmitted since getting his license a month previous. Maybe you never 
experienced or saw someone with "mic fright", but this was a classic case. 
Sweat, shaking, he whispered into the mic when I told him to "answer that 
Italian that's calling CQ". This was a run-of-the-mill QSO, not even in a 
contest!

This entire QST article is written for the newbie. He/she isn't going to 
start running a contest in machine-gun precision like all you seasoned pros. 
So what if he's a little verbose? If he called me, I would work him, whether 
it was a valid contest QSO or not. And if  he gave me a low serial number I 
might congratulate him for giving the contest a try. I would hope to work 
him in another contest.

Jim, sorry, contesting isn't "life or death" for the newbie. But I do 
understand it IS life or death for the Top Ten pro who is trying to win 
first place or a seat at WRTC. I guess that's why pleasure aircraft are not 
"welcomed with open arms" in the major airports. Unfortunately the airwaves 
don't separate the beginners from the top guns.

If you read the entire article, it gives very good examples for the fellow 
just starting out. These are all mundane concepts to us. But then, with the 
low sun spots, we all seem to nit pick any topic that comes up lately!

/soapbox

73 de Bob - KØRC in MN



----- Original Message ----- 
From: "James Cain" <cainjim at mindspring.com>
To: <cq-contest at contesting.com>
Sent: Saturday, February 23, 2008 7:33 AM
Subject: [CQ-Contest] Good contact, back to you


Answer to the question below:

Too much verbiage. Here's what the March QST "tutorial" (page 73) suggested:

"Kilowatt X-Ray Nine X-Ray, you're 5-9 Kilowatt, QSL?"

"QSL, You're 5-9 Connecticut, QSL?"

No need for "you're" and no need for "QSL."

I was never a 'phone operator but I quickly learned about brevity when I 
trained as a high-altitude air traffic controller 35 years ago. That was 
life-and-death, just like ham radio contesting.

Watching two 500-mph jets closing on your radar at 14 miles per second is 
just like listening to somebody trying to steal your contest run frequency 
while some idiot strings out his exchange to you. Stress kills.

Jim Cain, K1TN/2

-------------------

"My first reaction to Jim's message (after getting the QST out to read p73) 
was:  "HUH? What's wrong with the example provided?

"It's still my reaction after going to the store, buying groceries, and 
"stopping at the Post Office to cash a money order.

"Help me out here... what am I missing (he says, baiting the thread)?

"73 de Bob - KØRC in MN"
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