[CQ-Contest] Fewer than 3% of contesters self-spotted in ARRL DX CW 2024

[Jim Smith]

Joe WB9SBD wrote:
>
> In a CW test I do not see any need to self spot at all.
>
> I mean each CQ most likely will be caught by the RBN, and spot you.
> And your self spots will be blocked, ignored, whatever ya call it.
>

I disagree.  We self-spotted at N0AX, and I didn't really start using it
until Sunday afternoon local time, when things started to dry up while
running.  I self-spotted about every 15 minutes, and each time I did it
generated a mini pileup.

One other use of this (that I thought of after the fact) would be to try to
correct a busted spot on your own callsign.  At one point in the wee hours
of the morning, I worked 4 dupes in a row, and figured someone had busted
our call and spotted it.  I moved frequencies.  It didn't dawn on me until
much later that self-spotting that *might* have corrected that situation.
I'll try it if it happens again in an ARRL test to see.

73, Great fun to work all the DX this weekend!

Jim KK0U