[CQ-Contest] Techniques of Ye Olden Days

[steve.root at culligan4water.com]

Many years ago 73 Magazine published a book, a sort of operating manual for DXers and contesters. I can't even remember what it was called. The cover was red, I know that. Anyway there was a tremendous article in there written by Katashi Nose, KH6IJ. IJ was the best operator (IMHO) of his time, so I carefully studied his words. Many of his ideas are now obsolete due to changes in technology but a lot of it still rings true. I hope someone out there still has a copy of this, in fact it would be a great addition to Pete N4ZR's Wikipedia effort.

I remember a couple of things clearly....like don't set the pen down when you grab for the paddle. KH6IJ made a calculationn of the amount of time wsted setting down and picking up a pen over a 48 hour contest period. I got so used to sending CW with a pen in my hand that I had a hard time using a paddle without!

73 Steve K0SR
-----Original Message-----
From: Greg - N3ZL [mailto:n3zl.radio at gmail.com]
Sent: Saturday, August 29, 2009 11:28 PM
To: cq-contest at contesting.com
Subject: [CQ-Contest] Techniques of Ye Olden Days

I am nineteen years old and have been contesting for five years now. Though contesting today is full of computerized logging, rig control, DX clusters, and other high tech tools, I think it is interesting to learn techniques and tips from the era of handwritten logs. I find it quite enjoyable to operate an occasional contest back to basics with the radio, paddles, and paper and pencil. From sending cw with your non-dominant hand and logging with your other hand to how to streamline the paper logging process to how exactly a paper dupe sheet was kept and used, I would like to hear about these techniques and others from the many experienced contesters on this list. I believe learning and practicing these skills is quite fun and could one day pay off if, by some chance, I find myself in a DX location during CQ WW without a computer. :) 73 de Greg N3ZL _______________________________________________ CQ-Contest mailing list CQ-Contest at contesting.com http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/cq-contest