[VHFcontesting] CW

[Ed Kucharski]

I'm with Gene and Bill on this discussion.  CW has always been a part
of vhf+ contesting.  My operating philosophy is that when I run out of
stations to work on ssb I switch to cw and try to work whoever I can
on cw. If I want to remain competitive this is what have to do.  I don't
want extra points for the cw qso, after all, it's just another qso.
I usually drop to the low end of 6m and S&P - if I had better cw skills
I would certainly cq more on cw - I will cq on 432, where my station plays
well, and I usually come away with a few more grids - usually distant
grids and often I've been able to qsy some stations to other bands too.
The nice thing about vhf contest cw is that most operate at reasonable speeds
(15wpm or so), not at Indy 500 speeds I hear during hf cw contests, which helps
the casual cw operator to make some cw qso's and ultimately a higher contest
score.
I suggest we keep vhf contest scoring based on mode the same but educate
are fellow vhf+ contesters on the advantages of switching to cw during contests
to enhance all of our scores.
73,
Ed K3DNE



At 04:41 PM 1/24/02 -0500, Eugene Zimmerman wrote:
>Bill Olson is exactly correct here.  Even operators who do not use c.w.
>realize that it is the only way to go under really marginal conditions or
>with unusual propagation like AU.  The trick is to encourage them to learn
>the code better and to use it in contests under those conditions.  We can
>all help by slowing down a little bit when we use the code and tailoring our
>speed to match the station calling us.
.