[CQ-Contest] N6TJ AXIOMS OF LIFE

[Jim Neiger]

I will comment about your last paragraph David, since obviously you've never 
ran a contest pile-up from the DX end, when often hundreds are all calling 
on the same frequency.  But then your statement:
"ONLY if you DON'T have the skill to know how to deal with it".  I've been 
contesting 50 something years now, but there's never one where I don't learn 
something new.   So please, go out somewhere rare, and show us all how to do 
it.

It's not that I don't send my call frequently enough; some operators  better 
than I,  say I send it too often.  But growing-up when KH6IJ was my idol, I 
signed on to Nose's manner of just sending my call at the end of the QSO, 
which when you're  in  a 4 per minute rhythm (cw of course), the skilled 
operators calling simply know it means 3 things:  (1) I QSL your exchange 
and call; (2) I am XXX; and (3) QRZ.   It's simply musical poetry.

No, David, that is not the problem.  It's those like you, and others, 
promoting packet, skimmers, nets, lists, etc.  that have destroyed the 
ability of many (most?) to copy.  I send ZD8Z.  Your students post ZD9ZZ. 
Or 2D8Z.  or ZD8MI.

You opine that I should "just work the dupes that don't listen and get them 
out of the way".  I do this 99% of the time.  But often to the considerable 
detriment to my score.  Like in the 1997  CQ WW CW from ZD8Z.  I did single 
band 15, and became the first to ever do 5000+ QSO's on a band.  It's still 
the world record.  But, because of your wonderful technology operators, who 
busted my call in some of the above ways, I ended up with an outrageous 7% 
DUPE rate.  Help me out with the math, please, David:   7% of 5000 = 350 
QSO's lost by DUPES.  Which is equivalent to wasting about 3 hours of the 
contest.  As you don't appear to be a serious contester, I can understand 
why you don't care about wasting 3 hours.  But for those of us with a goal 
to operate 48 straight, can you understand why we might not be too pleased 
that the generation you are fostering can't even copy code?

And I cannot let your last words of learned advice pass without a note:  You 
said " while adding a comment about what your real call is again"  Ever try 
that, on cw, when you've got 500 stations constantly calling you, and every 
dit you send starts a new fever of calling?  Ever try to inform a DUPE, on 
CW,  that he is just that, when (1) he has no clue as to what your call is, 
and (2) obviously doesn't believe he's DUPE'd you.  And further to that, 
most likely his top speed has maxed out somewhere around 15wpm.  Again, 
please go out somewhere this fall, and show us all how to do it.  I'm always 
willing to learn.

It's late, and now every time I read the word DUPE, it's increasingly 
looking like I wrote DOPE.   No insult intended, but I think I better quit 
here.

Vy 73

Jim Neiger  N6TJ

--------------------------------------------------
From: "K1TTT" <K1TTT at ARRL.NET>
Sent: Friday, July 16, 2010 4:13 AM
To: <CQ-Contest at contesting.com>
Subject: Re: [CQ-Contest] N6TJ AXIOMS OF LIFE

>> NO. 548    Packet spotting, skimmers and that ilk, corrupts and perverts
>> any
>> attempt to demonstrate operating skills, absolutely.
>
> Only if you consider packet spotting not a part of operating.  By now we 
> are
> all aware that packet spotting exists, it has existed for many years, and 
> it
> will continue to be a part of contest operating for the foreseeable
> future... so learn how to handle it and make it a part of your skill set.
>
>> They're happy, and I'm left with a DUPE.  Wonderful.  My only solution
>> then
>> is to QSY.  Then watch the DUPES disappear (for awhile, at least)
>
> ONLY if you DON'T have the skill to know how to deal with it... ID more
> often, call a couple CQ's with your call 2 or 3 times, and just work the
> dupes that don't listen and get them out of the way... while adding a
> comment about what your real call is again.
>
> David Robbins K1TTT
> e-mail: mailto:k1ttt at arrl.net
> web: http://www.k1ttt.net
> AR-Cluster node: 145.69MHz or telnet://dxc.k1ttt.net
>
>
>
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