[CQ-Contest] Wasting time??????

[Tony Rogozinski]

There are many things to consider many of which have been mentioned:

1.  Propagation - here today gone tomorrow - A BIG ISSUE
2.  Many stations only operate a few hours during the contest - maybe not there later
3.  Possible problems with the station which could slow down future rate possibilities
4.  Possible antenna/rotor failures which could have great impact
5.  Other extenuating circumstances such as illness, etc.
6   Probably others which aren't included...........

IMHO the best strategy is to work them when you can and as fast as you can - worry about
sunday when sunday comes.  

Regarding the signing of your call:   I can't imagine how much time I've wasted while hunting new
                                                    multipliers, especially in the waning hours of the contest, listening
                                                    to a station running but not signing his call only to realize I'd already
                                                    worked that station when the call is finally divulged!  VERY
                                                    FRUSTRATING! Sometimes I'll finally call the station and when he
                                                    answers I'll ask for his call and if it's a dupe he's wasted HIS 
                                                    valuable time! So who wins?  Even worse if you're operating Unassisted and
                                                    can't refer to the "spots" and  more or less determine who it is.
                                                    My modus operandi is to sign at least every second QSO and
                                                    always acknowlege the receipt of the other stations' report with
                                                    a "TU" or "QSL" or in some manner.  If both stations don't acknowledge 
                                                    the receipt of the exchange how can they know it was a valid contact
                                                    and is it worth the risk of a 3 QSO penalty if it wasn't? Especially
                                                    important when the pile up is massive.


                       Tony Rogozinski
Amateur Radio W4OI - W4AMR - HK1AR - HK7AR
            LICENSED FOR OVER 52 YEARS 
         EX-N7BG, K5LMJ, K4KES, WA6BOU, 
       W6JPC W7HZF, F7BK, VP5AR, VQ9AR,
          OJ0/N7BG, CN2BG, 5V7BG, TY5AR 
          9G5AR, TU/N7BG, ZC4BG, HK3KAV
                  HK0/HK1AR, and others.....
                   I've been to 103 Countries




On Fri, Dec 3, 2010 at 1:56 PM, <al_lorona at agilent.com> wrote:

> As a little pistol I must admit that a lot of what I read here can be
> intimidating. For instance, for years I have read the opinion that goes like
> this: such-and-such behavior wastes valuable time in a contest. The behavior
> in question is usually saying "Please copy...", or sending the other
> station's call sign before sending your own exchange, or any number of
> things that irk contesters who have little patience for such "wasteful"
> practices.
>
> Most of these statements are highly ironic. To see why, tune in to the last
> few hours of any contest, when stations can go several minutes on a
> frequency calling CQ without an answer but keep pushing the button anyway.
> I'm in no way begruding their right to call CQ;  I'm saying that if you add
> up all of the precious seconds "wasted" by those of us that say "please" or
> "QSL" or whatever, that "wasted" time doesn't even come close to the time
> you spend sitting on a quiet frequency looking for those last few contacts.
>
> In other words, most stations are not time-limited in most contests, they
> are 'finding-another-Q' limited.
>
> You may argue that it is worse to lose seconds in the first hours of the
> contest when rates are higher, than in the last hours when rates drop. This
> argument may have merit, but remember that presumably everybody is being
> impacted more or less equally by the "wasters" and so all this does is
> change the point of peak rate (as well as the peak rate itself) for each
> participant. To me this is little different than everybody being affected by
> a solar flare. You may argue that if your goal is to set a new world record
> then any deviation from your precise idea of the perfect exchange has a
> greater negative impact and there I might agree with you, unless you find
> yourself pushing the button a lot at the end... in which case, maybe most
> contests are too long?
>
> I submit that most of the "wasted seconds" arguments are moot and belong on
> the Aargh! wiki page.
>
> Al  W6LX
                       Tony Rogozinski
Amateur Radio W4OI - W4AMR - HK1AR - HK7AR
            LICENSED FOR OVER 52 YEARS 
         EX-N7BG, K5LMJ, K4KES, WA6BOU, 
       W6JPC W7HZF, F7BK, VP5AR, VQ9AR,
          OJ0/N7BG, CN2BG, 5V7BG, TY5AR 
          9G5AR, TU/N7BG, ZC4BG, HK3KAV
                  HK0/HK1AR, and others.....
                   I've been to 103 Countries