I'm a CW newbie who can do casual QSO's at 15 WPM or so, but who would like to
dabble in contesting as a participant and not as a
competitor (more about that later). I have a strong personal ethos that
mandates that my pleasure is not to come at the expense of
someone else. I have been following the thread on Unsportsmanlike and its
spin-offs. In summary, my feelings are that:
contest organizers should provide some kind of venue for newcomers
newcomers should expect to do their homework and respect the rules of good
taste
contesters should extend consideration to newcomers, especially when the
run slows down.
I have suggested to several organizers that they consider welcoming newcomers
(who will be tomorrow's contesters) by providing hints
and even establishing informal conventions. Things like a section on the web
page "so you're new to contesting" containing the
items posted so nicely by Ward, N0AX; suggested frequency ranges; a suggestion
on when and how to make a contact without annoying a
serious competitor. As for conventions, I'd like to suggest that replying to a
CQ with a ? before the call might be a signal that a
newcomer wants to try. There is activity in the novice sub-bands in the major
contests (heard with my own ears in both FD and this
past SS), but it's frustrating since most of OM's replying to a CQ SS end up
giving their RST, name, QTH, WX or asking "what should
I send?". And there is little or no participation in the state QSO parties.
But organizers can designate a place where there will
be activity at a more relaxed pace. The NYC Marathon was being run at the same
time as CWSS and it is open to both competitive and
recreational runners.
For their part newcomers need to read the rules, try to copy exchanges, and
respect the rules of good taste. Starting with a state
QSO party is one way, waiting until the action cools down and you hear several
unanswered CQ's, moving up the band. Using a
computer is not a bad idea, but many want to start more informally.
Contesting is a competitive sport and serious competitors use the best tools
they can get, and these days, that means a computer.
There is no getting around the fact that working newcomers requires either
changing the speed setting on the computer or using an
auxiliary key (and many programs support that). After you've worked all the
other competitors, there are still lots of potential
Q's out there, and they all count in the log. So why not consider a deliberate
switch to QRS when the action slows down? If the
run is hot, keep at it, but at the end of the contest when every CQ comes up
empty and everyone else's CQ is a dup, slow down and
see what happens. In addition to comptetitors (in the contest), there are
other competitors: those looking for new states,
counties, zones, bands, and just on for a hour or two. They may or may not
know the exchange, and they may or may not be able to
operate at contest speed. You will often hear fone OP's requesting "anybody,
anywhere" to stir up contacts from casual listeners.
After all, every 'Q' in the log counts.
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