[CQ-Contest] Best callsign letters

[David J. Sourdis - HK1A]

You have to get more picky if you do contests on CW and SSB.
I took several things on account to get to HK1A:-Phonetics and phonetics contrast.
-Musicality and rythm of call on both modes.
-Same as above for SSB.
-Availability and quality (readability) of phonetic code for the letters, i.e.:Letter A has Alfa, Adam and America.
-Similarity (high chance of confusion) of letters on CW, like D, B, 6 or U, V, 4, or worst: E, I, S, H and 5 (Ask Pedro, HK1X, about it, he had HK1HHX before, that's sooo bad for a CW speed demon, hihi).
-Avoid dots together, use them if there is contrast made with a dash next to the dot(s), like Dahdihdihdah, the X is a sing-song on CW.
A "K" is terrible at the end of your call on CW, specially if it isn't a one letter suffix.
-The average power level while transmitting the call. (Try this: Send EE5E on CW to see how much the needle jumps on TX and then try it with a call with more dashes, like HK1A or OK1A). As a matter of fact: some people tune the linear amp sending dots, is about 50% duty cicle even if you send while the switch is on SSB.
-The time it takes to send or say the call.If time is an issue, then instead of HK1A, better was HK1T (was my second choice). The phonetics for the T are Tango, Toronto, not as good as Alpha and America,  but not bad. On CW the T is two dots less than the A (the dot and the space to the dash). Is shorter. (This may seem a bit exaggerated, but you better read the article "How long it takes to say P40E"). Then, before the suffix there is the number 1, one dot and four dashes and then the dash of the T, the T gets...  "swallowed" by the bunch of dashes before it. No contrast in "1T". In the case of the A, the dot makes the contrast with the dashes belonging to the 1. It shows where the number 1 ends.
So, for this and many other considerations like above, I decided that HK1A was a "1-A" call.  ;-)
My two cents.
73
David  
HK1A
EC5KXA
ex-HK1KXA




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