[CQ-Contest] CQ WW Survey results - part 1

[Jim Brown]

On Sun,12/20/2015 10:08 AM, Mike Ritz wrote:
> In CW and RTTY contests we all know the "TU" at the end is the acknowledgement.

Right.  And in contests like the CW Sprints, it's a dit, so that you 
don't QRM someone trying to call the station you just worked.

> The nearest phone equivalent is probably "QSL", or "Good Luck",

The nearest phone equivalent is "Thanks." It's two syllables shorter 
than QSL.

> but I know a lot, if not most of the big contesters acknowledge by moving quickly on to the next callsign, or they call QRZ after your report, and offer no acknowledgement.

Or perhaps you don't hear their TU because you're sending something you 
shouldn't be sending, like your call, or TU, or Merry Christmas, or 
"good luck in the contest."

I'm not a world class contester, but I'm always trying to get better, 
and to do the best I can with what I have. I'm not competitive in the 
big contests, but I have friends who are. I make a point of trying to 
work them in the big contests they're competing in to qualify for WRTC, 
or for a seriously competitive score. My objective is simply to give 
them points as quickly as possible, and without slowing them down.

>   OK I get that. That said, I just about always use "Thank you and good luck" for each phone QSO. Then again, I don't get the huge pileups the Caribbean guys do, and I am not out for blood either.

During the RAC contest this weekend, a lot of guys sent Merry Christmas  
or something similar on SSB.  At least half a dozen times, they stepped 
on a VE station who was trying to call me.  In RAC, VE stations count 
5X  non-VE stations, and they're multipliers.

73, Jim K9YC