[CQ-Contest] [YCCC] Key Clicks in ARRL DX CW

[George K5KG]

Ok, I will name names.  TO7A in FM gets the KEY CLIX AWARD FOR 2016!  He 
was not only massively loud [a good thing], but his clicks were 
absolutely terrible.  At one point, I told him "om bad clix", but he did 
not respond, and continued his run.  TO7A was not the only station with 
bad key clicks; TI5W was another one that I made a note of.  
Unfortunately, those were the only two stations I noted with bad 
clicks.  In the future, I will make a list of the ones I run across.  
They are easy to spot, not only with the ears, but with the P3 panadapter.

73, George, K5KG

On 2/22/2016 8:24 AM, Barry N1EU wrote:
> Great point Randy!  The untenable fact now is that those using clean
> transmitters (esp K3) are clearly at a disadvantage when running because
> they're just sitting ducks, i.e.  inviting someone to get real close to
> them and click all over their run frequency.
>
> Barry N1EU
>
> On Mon, Feb 22, 2016 at 8:07 AM, Randy Thompson K5ZD <k5zd at charter.net>
> wrote:
>
>> The challenge is that the problem is asymmetric.  It is all good for the
>> clicker in that he gets a clear frequency.  And there is little that a
>> station not clicking can do in response.
>>
>> We added the signal quality rule to CQWW, but we receive only 1 or 2 direct
>> and specific complaints after the contest.  We need more of those to gauge
>> impact and to know where to look.
>>
>> This is problem that is going to take a long time to fix, but it has to
>> start with peer pressure.  I.e., naming names publicly and often.  Stop
>> saying things like "S5 station" and actually say their call.
>>
>> Randy, K5ZD
>>
>>
>>> -----Original Message-----
>>> From: YCCC [mailto:yccc-bounces at contesting.com] On Behalf Of Barry N1EU
>>> Sent: Monday, February 22, 2016 12:57 PM
>>> To: YCCC
>>> Subject: [YCCC] Key Clicks in ARRL DX CW
>>>
>>> (FYI - I just posted this to CQ-Contest)
>>>
>>> Instead of the situation improving over the past 15 years with more
>>> awareness, key clicks on the bands during contests have gotten much
>>> worse.
>>> I've copied excerpts from score postings from W1UE and N1EU below.
>>>
>>> Two groups of contest operators are going to be much more aware of the
>>> problem than others: those who run a lot (and experience the clarity and
>>> usability of their run frequency deteriorate over time) and those
>>> equipped with panadapters.  I also suspect that east coast operators are
>>> going to be impacted more due to stronger European signal levels.
>>>
>>> I suspect the situation doesn't bother most contesting folks as much as
>>> me.  I really think it has gotten bad enough to warrant extreme measures
>>> - we've got the tools to monitor/playback spectrum.  Wide signals simply
>>> should NOT be tolerated and operators should be disqualified.
>>>
>>> The other measure I'd really like to see is an S&P only category because
>>> I, for one, would like to throw in the towel entirely on running during
>>> cw contests.
>>>
>>> 73,
>>> Barry N1EU
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> On Mon, Feb 22, 2016 at 6:54 AM, Dennis Egan <egan.dennis88 at gmail.com>
>>>   wrote:
>>>
>>>> Sunday afternoon on 40M was a true click-fest.  I had a good 40M
>>>> frequency, with a rate of about 80.  Gerry W1VE then nestles in 400
>>>> cycles up, and I started getting key clicks, destroying the frequency
>>>> for Rx.  I slid up to chastise him for the clicks, but when I got on
>>>> his frequency I could still hear the clicks- his station wasn't
>>>> generating them!  I went up another 4 KHz, and the offender was an S5
>>>> station occupying about 20KHz of spectrum with his key clicks!  His
>>>> station was only S6- if he could have channeled the power expended on
>>>> his clicks into his signal, he probably would have been S9.
>>>>
>>>>
>>> On Sun, Feb 21, 2016 at 8:02 PM, Barry N1EU <barry.n1eu at gmail.com>
>> wrote:
>>>> Lastly, I have to say that I ended the weekend with a bad taste in my
>>>> mouth from the rampant key clicks on the band and the recurring
>>>> experience of having my clear run frequency eventually being
>>>> over-ridden by key clicking neighbors getting too close, over and over
>>>> and over again. I'm not sure if having the P3 panadapter is a good
>>>> thing or a bad thing, because it clearly shows the band filled with
>>>> wide key clicking signals. It's really sad that the ham radio
>>>> community has never come to grips with this solvable issue. It has
>>> seriously spoiled cw contesting for me.
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> YCCC Reflector mailto:yccc at contesting.com Yankee Clipper Contest Club
>>> http://www.yccc.org Reflector Info:
>>> http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/yccc
>>
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-- 
George Wagner, K5KG
Sarasota, FL
941-400-1960