Poked the send key B4 I finished writing the message! Here's a more
complete response.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Ford Peterson" <ford@cmgate.com>
> I've been working with a local fella on getting into "contesting."
> Everybody needs an elmer, so it seems. After much encouragement and
proding
> on my part, he gave it a go on CW during SS. Below you will find his
> comments. I've scrubbed his name to eliminate any embarassment.
Comments?
By and large all of us will QRS to help a newbie get a contact, but in
all honesty we may not slow down as much as we think. In most contests,
especially during 'peak' hours, I run my CW at 32WPM. I temper that a
little in SS, generally running at 28WPM. When I get a slooowwww call
from KG6XXX I'll drop down to 20WPM. To me that speed is glacially slow
and I can just feel my queue of waiting callers evaporate, but in
reality it's STILL possibly 400% too fast for KG6XXX.
Radiosport contesting is a COMPETITION just like golf tournaments,
football games, and NASCAR races. If you want to play in the Masters
with Tiger Woods, the Super Bowl with Joe Montana, or race Mark Martin
in the Winston 400, you will probably first need to gain some basic
skills in a less competitive environment. If you don't, someone might
slow down and tell you to "go awy".
Sorry your friend was offended, but perhaps we shouldn't drag people to
the big dance until they've been 'elmered' in a quieter venue.
73, de Hans, K0HB
PS: I typed this slowly, so slower readers could keep up. ;-)
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