[UK-CONTEST] Typing skills and contesting

[Clive Whelan]

Hi Stewart

Good to have a touch typist's perspective.

I am certainly not a touch typist, and feel it is way toooo late to 
learn now. However, and interestingly, I have no issues whatsoever with 
normal contest operation, and can say that in the vast majority of 
situations touch typing is NOT a pre-requisite. If required I can even 
forego the type ahead function, although I won't be quite as fast as 
with it. In that situation, my 50+ year CW copying skills and short term 
memory are sufficient, even to make corrections on the fly at 35wpm ( 
using N1MM) for instance where I have mistyped. I cannot be sure of 
course, since one cannot assert a negative, but feel that the legendary 
10,000 hours syndrome is standing me in good stead. However, where I 
signally fail is in the entry of QTCs at 30wpm+. I suspect that this may 
be because the format is not as natural, as the callsigb, serial number 
routine. What happens is I find myself playing catch-up, and making 
errors which I cannot correct on the fly. Sadly, being a self taught CW 
student all those years ago I never did learn to " copy behind ", and I 
feel sure that this is a valuable asset when transferring stuff from the 
brain to the keyboard. Naturally there is no problem in copying to paper 
in any circumstances, and I suspect this is because that was the way I ( 
we?) took the stuff down originally, and of course we were all competent 
in that department before learning CW.

Again, I cannot be sure, but in view of the difficulties you- as a touch 
typist- have, I suspect that the only way to be comfortable with the 
process, is if one were already a competent typist before learning CW, 
but that if it it is the other way around, then the process may never be 
perfected. Of ourse this has to be conjecture on my part, and it would 
be good to have the views of somebody who was a typist before learning 
CW. I'd guess that they may be a rare breed. What would also be 
interesting is how a  competent SSB operator but non ouch typist fares 
with QTCs

I may be a cynic, but knowing the dificulties that the average Joe has 
copying my exchange at >30 wpm in conventional contests, the difference 
in WAE leads me to believe that many are actually using audio recording 
or even decoders ( although how the latter could work I don't know ). I 
used to love WAE and QTCs in the old days when sending on the paddle and 
copying on paper, but I confess I now find it a chore to have to ask ( 
beg even ) for QTCs, so I tend to chill out in that one. Also the 
default use of clusters does not now endear it to me. ymmv.


73


Clive
GW3NJW

On 15/08/2011 11:32, Stewart Rolfe wrote:
> Some interesting comments in the latest thread about typing skills.
>
> I'm a self taught touch typist but don't seem to have the confidence to use it properly in a contest. Nevertheless I can keep up with most situations I find myself in and am happy enough for example to press Enter to start sending before I've finished entering the call ('type ahead'..?).
>
> However, I spent some time in WAE cw at the weekend and for me QTCs are a totally different matter; there's no way I'm going to type these in real time when you're normally talking 30wpm minimum. I'm afraid I'm writing them on paper and entering them post contest with all the dangers of reading my own rapidly scribbled letters; in fact I discovered a pdf form in my old files that DARC used to produce for just this purpose so presumably I'm not alone, though it doesn't seem to be available now.
>
> So is touch typing to be considered an essential tool in a contester's armour?
>
> 73,
>
> Stewart, GW0ETF
>
> PS I did half intend to get tooled up with audio recording for the purposes of checking my QTCs but never got round to it - feels a bit like cheating anyway?
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