[UK-CONTEST] Typing skills and contesting

[Dave Sergeant]

On 15 Aug 2011 at 16:34, Clive Whelan wrote:

> 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. 

I am one of those 'rare breed's, in that I learnt to touch type while 
still at school, around 1963-4. I learnt morse at University, in 1968. 
Of course in those days the typewriter was very much a sit up and beg 
one with chunky keys, and contests were very much paper and pen (and 
real RSTs). In my early days of contesting I had difficulty 
coordinating ear/brain/fingers and nearly gave up. But over time it 
becomes instinctive - and these days I copy whole callsigns in my head 
before completing typing it in. Occasionally when I am unsure of a 
serial number (those big 4 digit ones) I ask for a repeat - every 
single time I have typed it correct the first time.

What I cannot do, even now, though is to hold a conversation while I am 
copying or sending. I know that is something the old wireless operators 
used to be able to do, but I don't know how they do it. I can drink a 
cuppa, write notes with my other hand etc, but as soon as somebody 
speaks to me I lose it...

My UBNs tend to show the occasional problem with me miscopying numbers 
(no more than a couple per 80MCC), but by far the most common problem 
is stations miscopying my serials, which is quite understandable with 
my weak QRP signals - very wrong copies, not just one digit. I cannot 
find a single case which indicates I have sent something different with 
my paddle than what is in the log, and I don't believe it happens.

73 Dave G3YMC

http://www.davesergeant.com