----- Original Message -----
From: "Brett Howard" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: "'G3YMC'" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>;
<[email protected]>
Sent: Wednesday, February 27, 2008 1:44 PM
Subject: RE: [Elecraft] VP6DX scraping the bottom
That's just bogus! Its NOT the speed that you need to get
competent at.
It's the speed that many people may be competent at but
not all of us. If
you guys are going to continue to tell people that they
need to get
competent at 25-35 then you can simply kiss CW goodbye.
If people
(especially DX an DXpedition type stations) are unwilling
to slow down and
give new CW ops some of the fun contacts then why would we
be willing to
want to continue to learn CW? So we can become one of the
rest of the
elitist snobs who won't slow down for someone?
I remember when I was at 5WPM and it was almost impossible
to get someone to
talk to me! Heck I knew it was slow even I was thinking
it was painful when
it was as fast as I could go. Now I'm up to 11 to 13WPM
and its easier to
find people to talk to but if someone is calling CQ at
5WPM that's the guy
I'm all over trying to talk to at HIS speed as that's a
new guy to be
brought into the fold. If we keep running people off from
CW and telling
people to get proficient at 25-30 WPM that's the attitudes
that gets CW
dropped from the test requirements!
Brett and All,
Well I wouldn't call it bogus, but it may not be as bad as
you think. I think what G3YMC was trying to tell you is
that, at least for the most part, in contests or
DXpeditions, the ops are going to go at about that speed as
a general rule. Some may slow down some, but most won't.
But it's not all that bad really, particularly if you are in
the 11 to 13 wpm range. And it doesn't necessarily mean you
have to send that fast, but you may have to copy that fast.
However, all you really need to be able to recognize at that
speed is your call, his call, and your report. Now,
recognizing "599" or "5NN" at 25 wpm, even though your
regular level is only around 11 to 13 wpm, isn't really that
hard. Also, you might have to listen several times to
finally figure out the other station's callsign before you
call him, but you should be able to put it all together
eventually. On rare occasion it might be too difficult, but
generally I think you can do it. During the DX contest a
couple of weeks ago I worked EE5E, in Spain, and that took
me a couple of times I must admit. It might have thrown you
completely. Most of the time though, it's much easier than
a whole pocket full of dits like that. As for your
callsign, you should be able to copy it much faster than
your normal level of competency. If you aren't comfortable
with that statement, and if you have a keyer with a memory,
put your call into memory and listen to it at a higher speed
until it sounds very familiar to you. After all, you don't
even have to be able to write that down--just recognize it.
You have to appreciate that contests and DXpeditions are all
about making the most contacts possible. It's all about
"score" or "total". They want to make 3, or even more,
contacts per minute if possible. That's called the "run
rate" I think, and it is a big topic of conversation among
rabid contesters. If they have to slow down a whole bunch,
and very often, they are losing points. Not everyone plays
the game that way, but a lot of them do. Many of them will
slow down for you. And something else--if your signal isn't
too great, some may just bail out on you for that as well.
You just have to accept the fact that in those situations
you might not be able to complete the QSO, and go on to the
next one. It's not like a regular QSO where courtesy would
call for the other station to slow down for you. Instead
it's the "Indy 500", and you just have to get your engine
cranked up if you want to win, but that doesn't mean you
can't run slower and still be a part of the race. By the
way, I was very impressed with how often the VP6DX guys did
slow down or stick with a hard-to-copy signal until the
contact was confirmed both ways.
So try to understand the other side's objectives, and keep
working on your skills. Nobody is trying to run you off
from CW, but if you really want to participate in a contest,
or work a DXpedition, you have to give them a little slack
about allowing them to achieve their goals. Your goal needs
to be to improve your skills to the extent possible so you
don't slow them down to a point where they can't achieve
theirs. In the meantime, you can "game" the process
somewhat by learning to recognize your call and sig reports
at faster than your usual speed, and taking enough time on
the contact beforehand to figure out their call. I'd
probably recommend you use some sort of memory keyer as well
so you can send out your call, and your report to them, at
something faster than 13 wpm. You may not like that advice,
but I think it's realistic. The critical thing is that you
are able to recognize your call and sig report when it is
sent at a higher speed. If you can't do that, you are
probably asking to be frustrated. I think you can do it!
Dave W7AQK
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