[CQ-Contest] Code readers

[Jukka Klemola]

Simple code readers are so yesterday.
Some years back I announced a CW Reader contest within CQ WPX for the
Finnish hams who do not know CW.
OH3FOG won by a margin.
He even won some old timers, who still operate CW in the good old boys way.

But Skimmer is better, It was invented more than ten years ago.
Skimmer decodes you the whole band at one go.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hbVqQri4TNA

In case you wonder who wins on the band - man or machine:
https://www.kcdxclub.com/pileup2009.html

Top scores 2009
(111 Participants)
 Skimmer 61
1 VE3DZ 51
2 W9WI 49
3 K4BAI 47

Human evolution speed does not suggest a human would win the machine any
time soon.


73,
Jukka OH6LI



ti 20. huhtik. 2021 klo 5.08 Michael Adams (mda at n1en.org) kirjoitti:
>
> One thing about CW Skimmer (and perhaps the others):  While it is slow at
decoding, I think its strength is in depicting/amplifying code in a visual
spectrum-like display.  I have some nasty tinnitus that makes it difficult
to copy "by ear", so I'll frequently run skimmer in "blind mode" (no
computer text generation) and copy the dits/dahs visually to overcome the
high noise level in my ears.
>
> Presumably this is a tactic any CW lover with hearing issues could use.
>
> --
> Michael Adams | mda at n1en.org
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: CQ-Contest <cq-contest-bounces+mda=n1en.org at contesting.com> On
Behalf Of AB1J via CQ-Contest
> Sent: Monday, 19 April, 2021 19.06
> To: k4sbz.stan at gmail.com; ko7ss at yahoo.com
> Cc: cq-contest at contesting.com
> Subject: [CQ-Contest] Code readers
>
> N1MM+ has code reading capability which can be used with  Fldigi, CWGet
or a TNC.
>
> I use CWGet with N1MM+ on CW when the contest rules allow (usually it's
forbidden when running Unassisted), but it doesn't work all that well in
QRM and with weak signals.  I ran it last weekend in the CQMMDX and it was
useful a handful of times.  There are times when I flub up and maybe CWGet
will rescue me.  Not always, however.  Usually we fail in tandem.
>
> You can always run standalone CW readers, too.
>
>
> I ran some tests once using various CW readers: CWGet, MRP40, Fldigi, and
the CW Skimmer.  The CW Skimmer was best but sometimes too slow.  The rest
were of a group with good and bad points depending on their use, like
ragchewing versus contesting.  Interestingly, if signals were good, some
decoders worked better on faster CW than slower.  I ran MRP40 up to 80 WPM
with good results.
>
> IMO, though, you can never be a serious CW contester until you can copy
contest CW yourself up to 35 WPM or more.  You don't have to be fluent at
35 WPM, just be able to copy calls and contest exchanges.
>
> The CWT contests and the K1USN SSTs are great ways to learn contest CW.
>
> Between the CWOps and K1USN activities, code readers and the RBN, CW
contesting will live on indefinitely, even if CW use generally continues to
decline.
>
> 73,
> Ken, AB1J