[Elecraft] VP6DX scraping the bottom

[T. David Yarnes]

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Brett Howard" <brett at livecomputers.com>
To: "'G3YMC'" <dave at davesergeant.com>; 
<elecraft at mailman.qth.net>
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