Why even send the call of the station you are calling, especially if it is a contest? He knows his(her) call. And in contesting why send QRP, unless the contest requires it? It just slows things up. The person on the receiving end is going to pick out the loudest and shortest call first. Also there seems to be more than one definition of QRP. It would seem what one considers to be QRP is most important to the person who is running QRP. So therefore you don't need to send it. When you are on the side calling CQ you can't tell by signal strength if the station calling you is running full power, has big antennas, running mobile or QRP. The ionosphere is a big equalizer depending on the band, time of day, where the signals are coming from, etc.
There is nothing wrong with being a traditionalist. It just may mean you don't get through the pileup as soon. And greater chance your call will be copied incorrectly. One thing that I can't figure out is when someone gives my call a few times when calling me and sends their call one time. I'm not sure what that is about. I do not consider myself a good CW op. I wish I were. But CW is my favorite mode. So when I operate off shore and several are calling at once I am just trying to get a few letters out of the mess if the signals aren't strong. Think how much more confusion is added when you are sending " AA4LR DE AA4AK/QRP AR" instead of "AA4AK". Steve, it seems you have discovered the best way to get the quickest response. 73, N2TK, Tony -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Behalf Of Stephen W. Kercel Sent: Saturday, April 22, 2006 7:05 PM To: Bill Coleman; Sandy W5TVW Cc: elecraft@mailman.qth.net Subject: Re: [Elecraft] Is CW a Language? OT Just how much time does sending a "DE" or a "K" take? Not much, but NOT sending them takes less time.... Bill Coleman, AA4LR, PP-ASEL Mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Quote: "Not within a thousand years will man ever fly!" -- Wilbur Wright, 1901 Bill and others: I am very much a traditionalist on CW operating procedure. However, in contesting I find that a standard formatted call (such as AA4LR DE AA4AK AR, or even worse, AA4LR DE AA4AK/QRP AR is ineffective in attracting replies. Typically, the rate conscious big gun contesters hearing several calls at once instinctively answer the call that finishes first. To test this notion, I've tried various combinations of standard and abbreviated call formats in contests. When I send a single unadorned AA4AK and nothing else, the rate at which I receive replies in contest goes up dramatically. 73, Steve AA4AK _______________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Post to: Elecraft@mailman.qth.net You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com _______________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Post to: Elecraft@mailman.qth.net You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com
