On Tue, Nov 29, 2011 at 7:24 AM, Scott Straw <scottstraw@mindspring.com> wrote:
One thing that I noticed during CQWW this past weekend is a worrisome number of times that my call was repeated back to be as KB4KBH, not the correct KB4KBS. At 30-35WPM-plus, that fourth dit somehow mysteriously seemed to appear in my transmission.
I know it wasn't op error at my end; N1MM did ALL of my sending at that speed (a transmission rate dictated by the CQ-ing station, not by me).
Why send so fast if your experience shows folks have a problem with the S? I spent most of the weekend varying between 29 and 31 wpm according to N1MM. The other alternative is to slightly slow down the sending of the last letter, say by 2 or 3 wpm if it proves to be a problem for some.
My SOP was to send my call until recognized, then to send a signal report, my CQ zone, and then my call once again (599 {EXCH} * for those who understand N1MM macros).
That's a problem. If the station thinks he's got your call right, once he's heard the exchange, he's on to the next QSO. If you must send your call to let him know that there's a problem, do it before the exchange - no, not procedurally correct historically, but a necessary modification for the contest.
If I heard them recognize me wrong, I would patiently send my complete call again until they sent it correctly. Alas, I fear I may have missed one or two.
Just make sure your callsign is sent back to you correctly before you send the exchange. Once you send the exchange, the Q is done.
So, for the small fraction of stations that heard the phantom extra pip and logged my call wrong, I suppose I'll get a NIL, right?
I reckon. If they have a U+1, the CQWW software may let you slide. I don't know what their policy is these days. I do know that I've been penalized by the CQWW committee for a QSO with a US MM station that the US MM didn't log. I lost a double mult and they got no penalty for being lids.
73 de Lee
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Lee Hiers, AA4GA
www.aa4ga.com