[Elecraft] Good Natured Contesting Advice

[Jim Brown]

On 11/9/2022 5:12 PM, john at kk9a.com wrote:
> One final comment regarding dupes. The contesting club to which I belong
> has a mantra: "work all dupes!" There is no penalty, but there is the
> possibility that one op or both busted a QSO, so the second one is
> insurance. Just work 'em. you might take small time hit, but how much
> time would you spend sending B4 or DUPE, then explaining to the other op
> why you won't work him again?

Yes. And that's why the guys not keeping dupe sheets are so frustrating, 
especially in SS when it's a long exchange.

On 11/9/2022 5:56 PM, Nate Bargmann wrote:
 > I got turned off of the CQWW DX CW 'test years ago because of the
 > absurdly high speeds, of course it is merely a callsign copying event.

Yes, I've made some contesters very angry when I've said on the 
CQ-Contest reflector that CQWW is the dumbest contest going, for exactly 
that reason. And it's why so many CW ops love SS -- because it's a long 
exchange, and you have to copy all of it correctly or lose the QSO.

One piece of advice (really a request) to contesters who think they are 
weak, so they repeat everything at least once. Please don't do that -- 
just send your exchange once, and let the other station ask for a repeat 
if needed. Some other contesting advice.

When answering a CQ, send ONLY your call, and never repeat anything that 
the other station copied correctly. For example, if he sent your call 
correctly when he responded to you, don't repeat your call when sending 
your exchange. And when you're the caller, never send the other 
station's call unless there's confusion about who's working who. :) As 
Bob, K6XX, says when he's teaching new contesters, "I know MY call, the 
only one I need is YOURS!

The reasons for all of this is that 1) contesting is about making more 
QOSs, which means doing it faster, so never waste time with anything 
un-necessary; and 2) when you are weak at the other station, or if 
there's QRM or QSB, wasting time sending something un-necessary 
increases the chances that you'll get clobbered by that QRM or QSB!

73, Jim K9YC