[CQ-Contest] Thing that drive me nuts

[Bob Wilson, N6TV]

On Fri, Dec 2, 2016 at 10:47 AM, Matt Murphy <matt at nq6n.com> wrote:

> I'm not sure whether the extra QRM and confusion created by these
> techniques helps overall, I'm curious what others chime in. I agree it is
> annoying when a station running does anything that leads me to call at the
> wrong time :)
>

Matt,

Please everyone, do not send TEST at the end of a CQ unless things are
really slow and you're getting desperate.

Skimmer doesn't care if you send CQ TEST NQ6N NQ6N  or CQ NQ6N N6QN TEST,
but humans sure do.  "TEST" acts like a sync pulse and the entire pileup
often starts calling at exactly the same time (except for doublers),
exactly what you do not want in most pileup situations.

Also, many people forget to reprogram their WinKeys or contest software to
use the short 6-dit long "CT Space" (contesting-style short word space), so
it defaults to ragchew-style 7-dit long word space, and that's way too long
between callsign and TEST, leading to even more doubling.  That extra time
makes a huge difference in the pileup timing and the number of doublers,
strange as that may seem.

Worst still, I noticed some folks like CO8ZZ kept getting spotted by
skimmers as CO8ZZF, because the keyer was programmed to the " TEST" about 8
WPM faster than his callsign, jamming everything together and thoroughly
confusing the skimmers, which decode CW best when everything, including the
5NN, is sent at the same steady speed.

73,
Bob, N6TV