The Role of Respect in Radiosport - Part 3

This is the 3rd installment of the WQ6X contest BEEFs BLOG.
You may recall:

1. Part 1 was a potpourri of BEEFs; a Beefy Potpourri.
2. Part 2 brought us a look at the technology side of 40-meter QRM. 
   This included an encounter with an Indonesian Witch Doctor.
   I KiD you NoT.

Part 3 is another potpourri, but of a radically different kind.
Let's begin Part 3 with a look at CW on STEROIDS.

BEEF #11 - CW STATIONS WHO RUN CONTESTS AT 35+ WPM
Sending code so FAST that no one can understand it is NoT (I repeat, NoT) CooL. 
Every CW contest there are a handful of stations who like to call CQ contest at 35+ WPM;
one guy was clocked at least 38 WPM! This is complete NONSENSE. The guy at 38+ called
and called and no one came back to him; probably because they could not decipher his callsign.
I put QRSPSE in the callsign field and pressed F5 after every call he made until he got the
message. Eventually he slowed down to about 30 WPM allowing me to give him a QSO,
followed by 8 more contacts.

Remember this: your CALLSIGN advertises that you are "open for business". If we can't copy your call then we can't work you; or, we will enter your callsign incorrectly in the log.  Either way, you don't get the QSO. I NEVER run faster than 25WPM and immediately slow down when a significantly slower station calls. What about you?


  

BEEF #12 - STATIONS WHO SEND WQ6? AND THEN WORK SOMEONE COMPLETELY DIFFERENT; EX: KB1XYZ
HuH? Why did you give up on me and work someone else?
When I get a partial callsign I keep with that station until a QSO is made.
I will keep sending "WQ6?" again and again until all the other IDIOTS shut up and let me
finish the current QSO.  It's really THAT simple.
When I send "WQ6?", if you don't have a WQ6 in your call then SHUT UP!!! OK? 
It's really as simple as that.

 

BEEF #13 - STATIONS WITH CHOPPY ENGLISH
This is another variation of the previous BEEF. Your callsign is your trademark.
If we can't understand you, your call will never make it to the log correctly. Now, I AM impressed by
non-English speaking operators who make an attempt at using English during Radiosport contests. However, saying your callsign correctly and intelligibly is SO important that you should practice
it OVER-and-OVER again BEFORE the contest. 
Recording your rehearsed-voice in a .WAV or .MP3 file allows you to play it  through your transmit audio over and over again.  If necessary, have someone ELSE (whose voice is similar to yours) say your callsign and YOU record him/her.

In years past I have made .WAV files such as "November Xray SIX Tango - SIX Tango"
or "Whiskey Quebec SIX Xray - SIX X-ray".


 

BEEF #14 - STATIONS WHO GIVE UP
When stations are weak or fade out in the middle of sending a number, I am forced to ask for a repeat. When I ask: "NR?" I want ONLY your number, NOT "599 + Number".   If signal fading is significantly choppy, when you ALSO send the signal report again (which I did NOT ask for),
then what we get is this: "5 9 9 - 1 2 @ & 4". Is that 1234? or 124? or?
I will continue to send "NR?" until I get your number. I am a patient operator and you should be too.
Don't give up on me after 3 INCORRECT responses to my "NR?" request; learn to do it the right way and I will get everything on the FIRST repeat. To make things easier on my end, when running N1MM+ I define function key [F6] to send "NR?" and [F7] to send "NR 1234" when sending
YOU my number.


 

BEEF #15- MULTIPLE STATIONS WHO GIVE UP
Consider the following scenario.  I call CQ contest on a run frequency and have 7 stations all respond to the CQ call.  I select one of those stations to work and spend about 10 seconds making contact with this station as we both send our exchanges.  At the end of the QSO, I press F3 to send "TU WQ6X" waiting for the next caller, only to be met with SILENCE.

HuH?  WTF?  Where did EVERYBODY go?  Why would you call me and then disappear? 
Do you mean to tell me you can't wait 10 - 15 seconds to make a QSO with me.
I make another CQ call and this time 5 stations call me.  I spend 10 - 15 seconds making that
contact and press F3 ("TU WQ6X") and AGAIN everybody disappears.  Are there REALLY that
many unworked stations that you can't wait your turn for the next QSO?  Am I missing something?


SOME FINAL THOUGHTS
What all the above BEEFs have in common is that the people I described were all not paying
attention and/or have no clue about what to do in a radiosport event.  This is why the first step towards  participation in any competition is to read the rules THOROUGHLY - find out specifically what the rules allow and what they don't; otherwise not only do you waste YOUR time, you waste
the time of the stations you incorrectly attempt to contact, as well as other stations legitimately
waiting their turn.

What is the first step you take before a radiosport event?
There is a 4th Part to this series.  [CLICK HERE] to read that.