[CQ-Contest] "Test" At End of CQ

[jimk8mr at aol.com]

 I think the practice came about as a way to distinguish between a guy calling CQ and a guy calling another station.
If I tune across and hear "%^&*%(@%$ K9YC" it's not clear what K9YC was intending. "K9YC TEST" made it clear that he was CQing. Also, If I hear just "TEST" and nobody calling, I know to stick around for the two seconds until the guy sends another CQ

In recent times I find the standard to be that if I hear "K9YC K9YC" he was very likely CQing. If I hear just "K9YC" I'll pause for a second to hear if somebody is responding before I call.  Of course this occasionally results in me dumping my call over the guy coming back to K9YC.
Sending "TEST" did make more sense back in the days when people found guys CQing by turning the big knob on the radio, rather than with a mouse click.

73  -   Jim   K8MR


-----Original Message-----
From: Jim Brown <k9yc at audiosystemsgroup.com>
To: cq-contest <cq-contest at contesting.com>
Sent: Sun, May 31, 2020 11:32 pm
Subject: [CQ-Contest] "Test" At End of CQ

I don't know where this practice came from -- perhaps the guys who came 
up with "Please Copy?" Both are time-wasters, and "test" at the end of a 
CQ completely throws off the rhythm of answering a CQ. If you need that 
"test" to tell you it's time to call, you need to go back to contesting 
school!

73, Jim K9YC
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