[Elecraft] [OT] CW speed and decoders and SS

[Tom Hammond]

Hi Dave:

The best 'decoder' is still between your ears!!!  Most (other than VERY
specialized) decoders will get really confused when they ear more than
one in-band signal... so trying to use a decoder in most CW contests
is pretty much useless.

I remember when I was starting out contesting (back in the late 50's and
very early 60's... they still run WAY ABOVE MY HEAD... but I's sit on
the frequency of someone who was "running 'em" (holding a frequency and
repeatedly calling CQ and working those who responded) and I'd copy
whatever parts of his exchange I could, one piece at a time, until I got
it all written down... and then the serial number... which I knew was
going to increment with each successive QSO, so I'd (finally) get it
picked apart and then mentally increment the last digit each time he
worked another station... I'd also mentally listen for him to send the
last digit I knew (err... thought) was to be sent next. It'd sometimes
take me several minutes to get the entire exchange, esp. in the CQ SS,
but once I got it, I'd call the station (at MY sending speed, maybe 15-
18 WPM) and no matter what speed he sent back to me, I knew I had his
info and that's he'd be (relatively) patient as I sent my info back to
him. In time (e.g. by the end of the contest) I found that my speed
was increasing with each contest in which I participated. that's why
I strongly recommend that new ops (IF they can send/RX 15 WPM or higher)
get as much contest experience under their belts as possible.

There are few better ways to get your proficiency up than doing it UNDER
FIRE!  It CAN be a bit frustrating at first, but if you stick with it,
you'll generally be gratified in the end.

Another method is to start up at the TOP END of the CW band and work your
way DOWN the band... generally more slower ops will tend to be found at
the high end of the bands, so you can start there and then work your way
down as you 1) become more comfortable with slightly higher speeds, and
2) as you work yourself out of slower ops to contact in the high end.

73,

Tom Hammond   N0SS

At 07:26 11/05/2007, David Wilburn 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.
>
>Decoders must be useful, the K3 has one.  With the many years of being
>licensed that copied that I copied in the exchange, I completely believe
>that many folks are sending and copying at the higher speeds.  But I
>have a hard time buying that "all" of them are.
>
>Are they using the MFJ decoder or the various software programs?  Is
>there one that works better than the other?  I have every intention of
>continuing to build my code speed, but if I am going to continue to try
>to do CW contesting I need to do something to reduce the frustration
>factor.  There were stations that I passed over as too fast to even
>start getting the info.  Others I asked for QRS.  Most did, some didn't.
>
>Overall it was a learning activity, I'm glad I took the time to
>experience it, but frustrating because I couldn't fully participate.
>--
>
>David Wilburn
>dave.wilburn at verizon.net
>K4DGW
>K2 S/N 5982
>
>
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