[CQ-Contest] Serial # contests, speed?

[Bob Shohet, KQ2M]

What is fun is when a super op type calls you and you KNOW that you can speed up and send it to him at 60 wpm and he will get it the first time and vice-versa if I  I call him/her.  Get’s the blood pumping a little faster and puts a smile on my face (and hopefully theirs).    :-)    And there are some slow sending ops that can copy qrq easily – but just can’t send fast – and your turning up the speed to send to them is like a knowing handshake saluting their copying skill – “Hey I know who you  are – you’re a really good op so I am going to send fast to you!”.

It also gets the attention of the pileup – makes them listen and wonder what is going on.  If they are listening then they are not transmitting which means that when the weak guy calls you will copy him and work him.  Sometimes that weak guy is a polar path mult that you would never have heard if/when everyone was calling at once!

It pays to slow down if cndx are disturbed and the signals start to sound auroral and/or of have significant flutter (like the W1 path to JA) – if you are sending fast you will be harder to understand and callers may pass you by.

73

Bob  KQ2M


From: K8MR via CQ-Contest 
Sent: Monday, March 11, 2019 10:15 PM
To: ve9aa at nbnet.nb.ca ; cq-contest at contesting.com 
Subject: Re: [CQ-Contest] Serial # contests, speed?

I'm of a keep it at the same speed style - I don't think the 300 milliseconds one saves by sending 5NN at warp speed compensates for the other guy's brain having to shift gears to copy what I'm sending.

I judge just how fast I'm sending by the nature of the pileup (assuming I have one!). The bigger the pileup, the safer it is to go fast, as it is quite likely the guy you're working just listened to your previous QSO and knows how to increment a number. 

Maybe not so much in serial number contests, but in a no-brain exchange contest (i.e. CQWW) sending on the fast side puts a sense of urgency for the other guy to call you now.

And as a contest wears on, yes, sending somewhat slower is a good strategy. And if for some reason (hopefully other than you got spotted with a busted call) you do get a small pileup, go ahead and bump up the speed a bit.


73  -  Jim  K8MR

 

 
 
-----Original Message-----
From: Mike Smith VE9AA <ve9aa at nbnet.nb.ca>
To: cq-contest <cq-contest at contesting.com>
Sent: Mon, Mar 11, 2019 9:58 pm
Subject: [CQ-Contest] Serial # contests, speed?

For contests like RDX and WPX where the exchange is a serial #, do you:

 

.      Go as fast as always. (34-36wpm) , risking your qso partner busting
the #,but keeping rate high.

.      Go a bit slower (30-32wpm), hoping the QRS improves the copy &
reduces busted exchanges.

.      Send everything just as fast as normal (whatever that speed is), but
use brackets <<>> (a la N1MM) to slow down JUST the serial #

.      Slow down only for obviously slow callers

.      Something else?

 

Inquiring minds.

 

I don't want to skew the results, so I won't say (yet) what I do. (and who
knows if what I do is even 'right')

 

Mike VE9AA


_______________________________________________
CQ-Contest mailing list
CQ-Contest at contesting.com
http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/cq-contest