[UK-CONTEST] CW ops and reports

[Gerard Lynch]

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "G3SJJ" <g3sjj at btinternet.com>

> Jeez, it's a bit difficult to keep one's cool with this one Phil.

Hope you can manage it, Chris, because I think your temperature is about to 
rise another couple of degrees.  Wouldn't want you to get an £80 
on-the-spot-fine for swearing or anything.

If you think the repeating back of callsigns is limited to the Club Call 
events, you haven't been listening in many other contests.  And if you think 
sending lots of extraneous information is limited to operators in the UK, I 
can only congratulate you on your successful lobotomy.

I spent about three hours operating in the UBA contest today, all bar 2 QSOs 
running rather than hunt and pounce.  I worked one G station each on 20, 40 
and 80.  I had at least a dozen stations repeat my callsign back to me (and 
in most cases it couldn't have been in their logging program as they were 
sending hand cranked CW).  I had people who insisted in repeating their 
callsigns when I got them right first time.  I had people who insisted in 
calling G0RTN de UR0XXX at the end of every over.  I even had one QSO that 
went along the lines of:

G0RTN G0RTN TEST

G0RTN G0RTN DE DL1XXX DL1XXX DL1XXX PSE KN

DL1XXX 5NN 099

R R R G0RTN DE DL1XXX QSL CFM GA UR 5NN 599 010 010 010 73 73 TU GL G0RTN DE 
DL1XXX VA

Lots of people who operate casually in contests don't have a clue how to 
operate efficiently in them; lots of them have been operating inefficiently 
for decades.  It would be nice if everyone was as snappy as you, but I'll 
tell you this, if all these 13 wpm, straight key, repeating callsigners 
disappeared your rate would be a hell of a lot lower and contesting a lot 
more boring.

By definition, there are many little pistols for every big gun, and many 
poor operators for every 4L8A or K5ZD.  That's true of any competitive 
endeavour.  The Voodudes and HC8N would post those fancy numbers without 
every geriatric, arthritic straight key op sending his chirpy 5 Watts to his 
wire down the drainpipe in UA3-land.  Or every strugging M0, or every 
past-it G3.

The CW Club Contests are about training up new CW operators and closing the 
lamentable gap in numbers of contesters in this country and Germany, the USA 
or Eastern Europe.  You're right to say they are an opportunity to spread 
best operating practice.  I don't think the best way of doing that is to 
give people a metaphorical spanking on this list for repeating their 
callsigns.  Although an article from a top-line big gun like yourself in 
RadCom or PW might do some good.

This reads a lot more nasty than I meant it too; oh, well, you're big enough 
to take the rough with the smooth, Chris. ;-)

Right, I'm off for some Greek.

73

Gerry G0RTN
Vanity Page at http://www.gerrylynch.co.uk
"In days of old, when ops were bold, and sidebands not invented,
The word would pass, by pounding brass, and all were well contented."