[CQ-Contest] cw speed

[Tom Hellem]

Martin-
I have often wondered the same thing. Here are my guesses as to what they
are thinking-
1. They assume that most ops, especially the casual ones, are using some
sort of call history program to auto-fill the exchange.
2. They assume that the majority of these "slower" ops are using the DX
clusters and Skimmers to provide the call signs and the frequencies.
3. They figure that for the small percentage of ops that are running
unassisted and who can't copy the speed they are sending at, the small
    number of contacts they would gain by sending slower and capturing
those qso's would not be justified by the resulting reduction in their
    rate over the course of an entire contest.

My guesses would probably not be applicable to a contest like WAE or ARRL
Sweepstakes where there is more information than just a zone
or a state to be copied in the exchange.

Your question is a good one.

Tom
K0SN



On Sat, Dec 2, 2023 at 10:21 AM Martin Sellschopp <m.sellschopp at gmail.com>
wrote:

> Hi all,
> what is the advantage of sending cw at speeds which are most likely beyond
> the capability of most cw operators ?  Isn't a run station hoping for
> replies also from the occasional contester ? Or do most operators now use
> decoders able to take any speed ?
> I helped myself with the callsigns from the cluster. In the cqwwdx contest
> that's ok as the zone is known  and hopefully I realise that he is replying
> to me.
>
> I can copy  callsigns and exchange well up to 30 WPM and a bit more and set
> my run speed to 22 WPM hoping for the quick guys to slow down a bit.
>
> Martin
> DK3UW
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