[CQ-Contest] Oceania contest lessons

[David Gilbert]

Some decent advice there, Charlie, but I'm going to have to disagree 
with a few of your phonetics.  I've given this subject a lot of thought 
over the years and I agree that common place names are a good idea, but 
several of the words you consider to be bad are so commonly used that 
anyone who has operated a contest for more than an hour is going to 
recognize them pretty easily.  ALPHA, BRAVO, DELTA, ECHO, HOTEL, and 
KILO pretty much fit that description.  I typically use ALPHA and BRAVO 
in contests because they are so common and they are short, but in some 
situations I will mix them up with AMERICA and BOSTON because I agree 
they can be more recognizable.

GOLF and GULF are indeed terrible in almost every respect, though. I 
really don't understand why people use them.

More importantly, in my opinion, is that words with short syllables and 
sharp consonants make a huge difference in intelligibility ... there is 
more burst audio energy in them.  For example, ECHO trumps ENGLAND every 
day of the week in that regard.  You can literally feel the difference 
when you say them.  Although I typically use ALPHA, I don't like the way 
the PH is so mushy and I will switch to AMERICA if it isn't working.  A 
word like ATTIC would work well except that nobody would recognize it.  ;)

Other things being equal, and this is just my opinion, I also think that 
short two syllable words are better than words with more of them.  
WASHINGTON and HONOLULU are pretty bad on both length and crispness.  I 
can hear and recognize WHISKEY within the same window of QRM/QRN that it 
takes for an ambiguous INGTON to come though.

Intelligibility is a mixture of both reception and recognition ... it's 
not a good idea to ignore either.

Your best advice, though, is to switch to a different phonetic if one 
isn't getting through.  It is pretty frustrating for me to have somebody 
keep using the same phonetic over and over after I've already asked for 
a handful of repeats.  I've even had to tell somebody on the other end 
to use a different phonetic because it was obvious I wasn't grasping one 
they were using.

Take care,
Dave   AB7E



On 10/7/2017 7:49 PM, Charles Harpole wrote:
> Things I have learned, again, this time working people in triangle area
> from Singapore to Palau to Timor and humbly and apologetically offer advice
> to operators in that area.........
>
> -Learn more radio English.
> -Practice saying your call sign in clear English, not so fast, and use
> clear phonetics*.
> -Learn alternative words for your call in other phonetics.
> -Repeat your info at least twice all the time.
> -Give your whole call sign, especially the prefix for yagis to be turned to
> you.
>
> ​Thank you very much.  Help upcoming DX contest sponsored in that area (in
> January?).
>
> *Do not use GULF, GOLF, ALPHA, BRAVO, ​DELTA, ECHO, HOTEL, KILO, LIMA, and
> other bad ones.
>
> Use AMERICA, BOSTON, CANADA/CHARLIE, DENMARK, ENGLAND, FLORIDA, GERMANY,
> HONOLULU, ITALY, JAPAN, KENTUCKY, LONDON, MEXICO, NORWAY, ONTARIO, PAPA,
> QUEEN, RADIO, SANTIAGO, TOKYO, UNITED, VICTORIA, WASHINGTON, X-RAY,
> YOKOHAMA, ZANZIBAR.
>
> ​I have spent years testing these words with non-native English speakers
> and THEY WORK first time.  They are based on common PLACE names featured in
> the news media in most languages​, PORTUGAL, QUEBEC excepted.
>
> Thanks, 73
> Charly, HS0ZCW
> ​   HONOLULU SANTIAGO ZERO ZANZIBAR CANADA WASHINGTON​
>
>
> Better to be heard long *once* than not heard shorter three times.
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