Back in the 90's my CW skills were better. There was an on the air test for copy and I was able to get the cert for 40 WPM. I could copy a tad faster but comprehension went way down quickly at 45 WPM. Life got in the way since then and sans antennas, I've spent much less time on the air till recently and today the top end of my accurate copy is closer to 30 WPM.
With that, there were few stations I could not copy that were clearly heard sans QRM, QRN & so on. There were however a few stations I was irritated at because I knew they were multipliers from their prefix but there was no way I wanted to spend time prying out the specifics of their call because it was just too fast. So I left them behing & kept on tuning. If I think such calls are too fast, someone who sweats at 20 WPM isn't going to hear a thing that makes sense. So to me, sending CQ at 10 WPM is going to hurt your overall Qs and sending at 45 WPM is going to hurt your overall Qs. Seems like one person needs to practice & the other one needs to learn. Perhaps if a contester were to send say every 5 calls at 20 WPM and the rest at Autobahn rates to move callers along, that would be a worthy alternative; needs some experimenting to see how that would fly. Gary KA1J > Dave, > > The premise that nobody can copy high speed CW is simply false. > > The RUFZ contest simulator shows that hundreds of contest stations are > able to pull out call signs at over 50 wpm. The top guy does this at > 160 WPM. See: http://www.sk3bg.se/contest/rufztop.htm > > In many contests the exchange is known most of the time before hand. > Thus huge number of QSO's can be accurately completed at such speeds. > > Like the market place, you charge (set speed) at what traffic will bear. > > Early on in a contest fast + loud is the right thing to do for score. > High speed reduces pileup size for rare ones and actually helps QSO rate. > > 73 de Brian/K3KO > > Julian, G4ILO wrote: > > > > >Dave Agsten wrote: > > > > > >>Speaking of those ultra high speed CW stations, I have to wonder if they > >>are in a radio contest or a computer contest? Isn't the computer doing > >>most of the operating. I don't know, since having the PC run the show, as > >>far as contest exchanges are concerned, is of absolutely no interest to > >>me. Does the computer copy and select the calling station? ( I have no > >>idea?? ) If it does, then it really is a computer contest and not a ham > >>radio contest. > >> > >> > >> > >> > >In a CW contest the computer does less than in a RTTY or PSK contest. There > >is no CW decoding software yet written that decodes reliably enough in the > >presence of contest QRM to be used without aural conformation, or that can > >decode weak signals close to the noise at all. Computers are an operating > >aid, but that's all. > > > >I have been thinking of adding a facility to my software that records the > >exchange and allows it to be played back, at half speed if required. Do > >other programs do that? > > > >----- > >Julian, G4ILO. K2 #392 K3 #222. > >http://www.g4ilo.com/ G4ILO's Shack http://www.ham-directory.com/ Ham > >Directory http://www.g4ilo.com/kcomm.html KComm for Elecraft K2 and K3 > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > Elecraft mailing list > Post to: Elecraft@mailman.qth.net > You must be a subscriber to post to the list. > Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): > http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft > > Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm > Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com > _______________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Post to: Elecraft@mailman.qth.net You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com
