[UK-CONTEST] RTTY Decoders in CW contests

[Gerard Lynch]

At 21:33 28/05/2007, Cooper, Stewart wrote:

Stewart's e-mail set a few hares running in the diseased piece of 
meat I use for a brain, particularly this comment:

 > Why do some stations feel it necessary when sending slowly, to repeat
 > all calls twice along with the full CW 9's (DA DA DA DA DIT). It's the
 > CW equivalent of the pub bore "I didn't get where I am today by sending
 > fast CW... blah blah".

If you noticed what I'm about to mention, you'll be the third person 
to do so today:

In the midst of an EU pileup, DG1XXX/P, nice and strong, calls 
you.  You give him a quick report.  He replies with:

G6PZ DG1XXX/P DG1XXX/P 599 009 009 (full numbers) DG1XXX/P GL TU at 
about 16 or 18 words a minute.

This happened to me at least ten times and I used the dead time to 
write rude notes in the log about them.

I'm not the world's greatest RTTY expert, but isn't that exactly how 
RTTY contest exchanges are sent?  Now, I have no real problems with 
people using RTTY decoders in CW contests.  More activity is more 
QSOs and more fun, and maybe they'll eventually work out how limited 
CW decoders are and learn how to use the mode properly.

BUT at such a slow speed that exchange must be using well over half a 
minute when 5-6 seconds would do.  And it always seemed to happen I 
was running at 150 or so.  And every single station using that 
particular format was a DL.  I'd guess either there was an article in 
a German magazine saying that using RTTY programs in CW contests was 
a runner or one of the big German contest clubs encouraged their 
CW-limited members to get on that way and increase the club score.

And I have no problem with that but before anyone tries the same 
thing over here could they at least ask people to set the CW speed to 
30 wpm or so, leave the extraneous callsigns out send a cut number 
exchange once.  Please.  There's a reason why rates in CW contests 
are much higher than in RTTY contests.

Oh and leave out the extraneous TU at the end.  And that goes for 
real CW operators as well.  And as for people who insist on sending 
GL at the end of the exchange, I feel like getting a T-shirt saying 
"If you really want to with me good luck, just send your exchange 
once with nothing extra."  It's not that the GL in and of itself 
makes much difference, short as it is, but it plays merry hell with 
your rhythm.

>Why do very weak QRP stations feel it necessary to append /QRP to 
>their already long and complicated 6 letter callsign especially when 
>you're asking them to repeat the callsign for the 3rd time. Don't 
>they get it??? Oh, sorry, they can hear me OK. I see.

That's a hardly perennial, so annoying as it is, it wasn't my other 
pet hate of the weekend.  That was reserved for the people who 
insisted on calling you when you were trying to get the serial number 
from a different weak station.  ZL6QH called me on 20 with about 7 
minutes to go in the contest and they were deadly weak, even when I 
swung the top yagi down towards the long path heading.  While I 
struggled to copy the serial number - TWO S9+ Ws started calling 
me.  No, "ZL6QH NR?" does not mean "QRZ?", folks.

I had two weird callsign recognition moments.  One was when a weak K8 
called me on 80 after sunrise on Saturday and I somehow fantasised 
ZL6QH out of his call.  Don't know how I managed that one.  The other 
was when 7Z1UG called me in the middle of a US run late on Sunday for 
a welcome DX mult and I, well, I know Manfred's call really well, I 
work him all the time, but I just couldn't process it.  Even weirder, 
I typed the call in and sent the exchange while still thinking to 
myself "is that a ZS or something".

Who says sleep deprivation is bad for you?


73

Gerry G0RTN
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."