Well said, and understanding the exchange is the initial difficulty I was having. I couldn't find anyone going slow enough to understand how the exchange was handled. Many folks put NR in front of the sequential number, which is a big help for us newbies. About half didn't. Some may be looking at the time saved, or it just did not occur to them.
I replied to all CQs at 15wpm. Some slowed down automatically, others I asked to QRS after they returned their info at high speed, others I had already worked out their info and just answered, and others lost what ever time they saved, by having to answer my questions before I supplied my side of the sequence. So it all worked out. - David Wilburn [EMAIL PROTECTED] K4DGW K2 S/N 5982 On Mon, 2007-11-05 at 10:51 -0600, Craig Rairdin wrote: > > What blew me away trying to get into my third CW contest was the > > speed everyone was running. Additionally I had not dealt with > > sequential exchanges before, and wanted to listen to one first > > to get the "feel" of the exchange. But it was all too fast. > > > The concept of answering folks at what they sent, was few and far > > between in my experience. I heard some folks consistently sending > > slower (meaning 20-25) only to be answered by much higher rates. > > They still worked them, so they were capable of higher than they > > were sending (seems quite possible) or they had help. > > I think SS almost demands computerized logging so the sequence numbers are > handled automatically. I use WriteLog and interface to the rig through a > microHam microKeyer. The nice thing about this setup is I can speed up or > slow down by turning a knob. I have trouble sending by hand above about 25 > wpm but no problem turning a knob up to 40. :-) > > I take pride in the fact while I call CQ at 30 wpm I crank it down to 15 if > you call me at 15. You will be able to copy my "R TU" at the end, but the > QRZ will be back up to speed. Similarly, if you're calling CQ at 35 or 40 > you'll get my reply at that speed. > > I've been a private pilot for about 17 years. My dad is just learning to > fly. When he and I fly together into busy airspace like O'Hare, he's always > amazed at how I handle the complex communications. The secret is that all > controllers say the same thing in the same order no matter where you go. > Once you know the pattern it's easy to understand them because you're > already anticipating it. Copying contest exchanges at 40 wpm is no > different. You know what's coming so you can anticipate it. I copy > conversational CW in the 20 wpm range (OK, maybe more like 18) but have no > problem with any speed in a contest because I know what's coming. > > > Decoders must be useful, the K3 has one.... > > Are they using the MFJ decoder .... > > I turned on the K3 decoder for the contest and I glanced at it a couple > times when I wasn't sure I heard right. It does a much better job than the > piece of crap MFJ decoder (sorry, "piece of crap MFJ" is an oxymoron; I > shouldn've just said "piece of crap" and you would've known what I meant). > > My pet peeve are the guys who send different parts of the report at > different speeds; as if sending their call at 50 wpm is going to increase > their QSO rate. I like to pause for a little longer than normal when I reply > to them just to eat up all the time they saved. Then there's the bozo who > decided not to send his call in the exchange, apparently because I already > know it. That really throws off the trick of knowing what's coming. All of a > sudden I'm getting numbers where I expect a callsign. I had to ask for his > ck and sec again, thus eating way more time then he saved on the next 100 > Q's by not sending his call. And what's with the keyers that separate the > elements by nanoseconds instead of dit-widths? They sound like a solid tone. > > Enough complaining. :-) > > > Craig > NZ0R > K3/100 #25 > > _______________________________________________ > 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
