[CW] A Speed Question

[Ron.K3PID]

I’ve been a ham for 58 years. Never got into contesting with the exception of ARRL Field Day with the local club. I was working on the computer this afternoon and listening to 40 meter CW and the clatter of one or another contests and it remains a mystery to me why one would send CQ TEST DE etc at 35 to 40 wpm except perhaps in the final hour of the contest. Isn’t the objective to get as many contacts as possible? Doesn’t 35 wpm exclude a huge segment of the amateur community? I observed several stations calling at high speed for 10 to 15 minutes between responses and wondered if it wouldn’t make more sense to call at say 15 to 20 wpm and maybe double or even triple the odds of a response?

Maybe that’s why I don’t do contest! Not complaining mind you, just wondering what the theory is?

Ron K3PID

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