[CQ-Contest] a DX contester's plea (phone)

[Charles Harpole]

Please engrave this message in your amplifier front panel:

If the guy you are calling only gets a part of your call sign and info;
REPEAT IT MORE THAN ONCE back to him and not so fast.

A pile of guys were on me for AA, thank you, but I announced QSB and QRN on
my end and YET callers would say their info/call sign just once.  That
leaves me to grind out repeats.  IF A STATION YOU ARE CALLING ASKS FOR ONE
REPEAT, HE CANT COPY YOU WELL.  So speak your info several times in one
transmission.  This is much more efficient that you trying to be polite and
take up a small amount of time.  Saying your call sign three times in a row
is lots faster than being asked for three repeats.

Also, I may be loud to you, but believe me, most of the time you are not as
loud to me.  And when many stations are all calling at once, somehow the
whole group blends into a less loud mess.  Then, when one station finally
is acknowledged, he pops up louder than he was in the pile.  Puzzling
phenomenon but true.

Russian area...  They say their call and info twice, amazingly effective.
Japanese area...... They remain silent if you get even 90% of their call
sign and will not extrapolate that likely the "partial" I am repeating
really means them.
European area..... Just will not stop to listen, will tail end, will call
when the station letters I am calling do not at all match theirs, and will
call when it is clear I am trying to copy a totally different station's
info.
North American area......  Say it once, and say it fast drives me nutz,
ggurrrrr.

World wide....... Many stations can not cope with phonetics that they do
not use.  How many times the guy says Gulf Zed Alpha Fox (all terrible
phonetics, BTW) and I answer Germany Zanzibar America Florida and the guy
can not figure out that those words mean HIM and will correct me back with
HIS words, Gulf Zed Alpha Fox, and unless I say those exact words, he will
think I am working some other station.  Chinese area is bad about this.

I change because my phonetics are better than yours, and my saying Germany
tests the accuracy of your badly heard Golf.

Then there are the ops who say 59 several times as if it matters and then
the important info once.

73,

-- 
Charly, HS0ZCW