[CQ-Contest] Delayed Callers

[Fred Kleber]

I do not have a lot of patience for SO2R / In-band, or whatever kind of stations that don’t come back after two calls.  If I have a pileup, my time and rate is just as valuable as the delayed caller’s. 

My rule is two responses and if the delayed caller doesn’t come back, either they don’t copy me well or they are waiting for a QSO to finish on another radio.  Regardless, I then either CQ or QRZ.  Of course this strategy might be different for someone who is from a call area with an abundance of callers.  

If the calling station still wants a QSO, they can call again, but if there are other callers, I will use a ‘mental band pass’ filter to give other callers priority, as it is highly likely I will get a quicker reply from a different station.  If the calling station is obviously a newer call, KF0XYZ,etc. then I will be more forgiving regarding a response. 

On the flip side, I rarely call a station more than 3 times.  If the station is a mult, I then evaluate the mult vs. QSO ratio and decide how long to call. 

YMMV.  Back to net….

73,
Fred, NP2X