[UK-CONTEST] AFS CW

[Dave Sergeant]

On 12 Jan 2011 at 10:03, Roger G3SXW wrote:

> Use of decoders does not imply 'assistance' (nor does transmitting
> messages with F buttons). But I do suggest that anyone using one should
> treble-check that they have consistently copied the same call-sign:
> decoders are error-prone (QRM, QRN, QSB) so cause loss of points during
> adjudication. This means that they should really only be used in S&P
> mode, not CQing, so the computer can decode the CQing station several
> times over: when in CQ mode you normally only hear the calling station's
> call-sign once. This also slows down the QSO rate a lot, so you will
> never win with a de-coder.

I agree that you will never win with a decoder, but the slowing down by 
by only using S&P is not as great as you say. AFS has the advantage of 
a huge participation, even more than the CCs. Using S&P (and QRP) 
almost exclusively I had a QSO rate of over 60/hour for the first hour -
I see the leaders were only doing around 90/hour on run. Slower yes, 
but not huge.

In fairness, AFS with its huge participation of high speed stations is 
probably not the best one to start your venture into contesting. The 
very leisurely Commonwealth Contest next month or some of the lesser 
European events would allow coming to grips with contest exchanges 
without the adrenaline of AFS.

73 Dave G3YMC

http://www.davesergeant.com