[Fists] Contest tricks

Sun, 12 May 2002 08:26:50 -0500

You are right Dan. Rapid fire contacts are not everyone's cup of tea.
But if you get "in" a contest, it is probably best to assume that the
person on the other end is interested in making the exchange and
moving on.

I think the advice that Hans sent to the list yesterday was good for
those who want to work in a "sprint".

The Sprint required this exchange:

TU RST 599 BOB WA XXXX BK

But I ran into a lot of this:

TNX FER THE 599 RPT BT MY NAME IS BOB BOB BOB BT UR RST RST RST IS 599
599 599 BT MY QTH IS ELMO, WA ELMO, WA ELMO, WA BT MY FISTS NR IS XXXX
XXXX XXXX BT CC CC YYYY YYYY BT TNX FER CONTACT AND BEST 73 GL GL GL
HPE TO CU AGN ON BANDS BT 73 73 73

I wasn't looking to set the world on fire with a high score, but there
is a right way and a wrong way to do anything. Clearly, some folks
have a different view of the Sprints.

One of the nice things about CW is its brevity. One often runs into
the same thing in more casual operating. Like this:

RRR TNX FOR THE FB RPT FROM MUNCIE, IN BT FB UR ELECRAFT K1 BT FB UR 5
WATTS BT FB UR DIPOLE BT FB UR RAIN AND TEMP....etc.

I'm convinced the person who just echoes back to me everything that I
sent has absolutely nothing to say but won't use *that* as an excuse
to turn the radio off for awhile and go get some fresh air! :-)

73 de Jeff, N9AVG
FISTS #6641

----- Original Message -----
From: "Daniel Metzger" <[email protected]>
To: <[email protected]>
Sent: Thursday, December 31, 1903 7:27 PM
Subject: Re: [Fists] Contest tricks

Just a voice from the other side of the aisle:

I don't do contests (except for field day with the club) precisely
because of the "hit and run" nature of the contacts.  When I meet
somebody, in person or on the air, I like to treat them as a person
who
matters, not as a number that ups my count by one.  I enjoy some of
the
runs billed as "QSO Parties" because we can exchange a few personal
notes and good greetings without anybody getting upset about it.

Obviously there are a LOT of hams who do enjoy the rapid ticking off
of
60 QSOs in 30 minutes, and my best respects and good wishes to them.
But I thought someone should say a word to the effect that this is not
everyone's cup of tea.