[Elecraft] QRP and Contesting

[Al Lorona]

This issue is a kind of double-edged sword that cuts not only newbies with bad fists, but Big Guns with fists that are, well, *too* good.

I noticed this opposite phenomenon as soon as CW SS got started. It seemed that the average CW speed was way up this year. (I hadn't operated the SS in a couple of years, so this trend may have started a couple of years ago and I just now have experienced it.) 

My CW skill is decent, but even I got into hot water when copying some exchanges: Was that 378A? Or 377U? Asking for a repeat didn't always help, because at 45 WPM slight multipath distortions in the ionosphere start to mess with high-speed CW. Not a single op slowed down for me, even if I had to ask for multiple repeats.

Then there's this: When you think about it, there's no incentive to help someone like me copy correctly. After all, if I copy incorrectly, I'm the one who gets penalized, not him. By asking for a repeat, all I'm doing (in his mind) is slowing him down on his run frequency. And probably ticking him off?

I mean, 30 WPM with no repeats is actually faster than 40 WPM with some repeats.

You may say, "Well, Al, you're a lid for entering a contest if you're unable to copy quickly enough to participate." Maybe so, but the obstinacy of operating at 40+ WPM no matter what shows a colossal disdain for the Little Pistols who are the bread and butter of the elite. 

In two weeks we'll get to hear the Phone SS equivalent of this obstinacy: absolutely nasty, overdriven, groaty, fingernails-on-a-chalkboard, bad audio. How lovely.

R,

Al  W6LX/4