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Contest for beginners	Reply
by WA2OXZ on May 27, 2008	Mail this to a friend!
I'm not new to ham radio, but I am to contesting, I've been listening in on cw on weekends and it looks like it could really be a lot of fun. The problem is speed, if you don't have it you can so easily get lost, don't know if everyone is using cw readers or some other trick, but trying to copy 25-30 wpm in a pileup weak and strong sigs combined is a killer, I can't do it. Best I can do is 20 wpm. I'll bet there's a ton of others that would love the chance to participate in a cw contest if there was a speedlimit in the rules, say 18wpm, and even a shorter time limit on it too. If this already exists and I'm not aware of it, please let me know. If not, I thought it would be a good idea to start one, maybe the folks from ARRL could do something with this.

RE: Contest for beginners	Reply
by W7CF on May 27, 2008	Mail this to a friend!
big contests like last weekend's CQ WPX have more of the really fast operators. Try more regional contests like state QSO parties where speeds are more in the 20-25 WPM range. I'm still a CW learner myself and I cannot follow regular QSOs that are more than 10-15WPM. But Search&Pounce is workable for me up to ~25WPM, sometimes even higher. The contest exchanges are short and predictable in their structure and particual grammar used (TU, 5NN, AGN?, NR?, STATE?, QSL, QRZ...). The ear gets quickly used to the faster sound patterns. In S&P mode, if necessary I can listen multiple times to properly get the other's call and understand his particular response structure before throwing in my own call. Running a frequency is of course a complete different ball game and not for me yet... You can also "warm up" your code hearing for the faster exchanges and callsigns using morserunner or rufzxp the days leading up to a contest. Besides, just join the contest frenzy, ask AGN? if necessary. Good ops will QRS a bit if needed, after all, they want your Q. You'll be amazed how much your ear gets trained with the 20-25WPM speeds after working a contest for just a few hours. As always with the code, listening practice helps and it's certainly more fun to practice higher speeds when one get to send too :-) 73 Dave

RE: Contest for beginners	Reply
by WA2OXZ on May 28, 2008	Mail this to a friend!
Thanks Dave, Yeah I'm pretty much doing just that, search and pounce mode, I listen for the standard exchange, of course it screws me up when they ask for other info at those speeds, but it is fun, I will look for the more regional contests as you suggested, I'll also give it a shot on Field Day. Thanks and cu on the bands. 73..Dave

RE: Contest for beginners	Reply
by KB9CRY on May 28, 2008	Mail this to a friend!
Best I can do is 20 wpm. I'll bet there's a ton of others that would love the chance to participate in a cw contest if there was a speedlimit in the rules, Sri, but to run with the big boys, you need to copy the code. More practicing is the only solution. The limitation is with you and you need to get better. We all went through your learning curve and obviously it can be done since we've all did it. Don't be discouraged but no need to change the rules since there are plenty of folks who can abide by them as is.

RE: Contest for beginners	Reply
by DJ1YFK on May 29, 2008	Mail this to a friend!
> I'll bet there's a ton of others that would love the > chance to participate in a cw contest if there was a > speedlimit in the rules, say 18wpm, and even a shorter > time limit on it too. The NCCC sprint may be interesting for you: http://www.ncccsprint.com/ They have special "Slow" sprint events, that only run 15 minutes and have a speed limit (23wpm). See "Slow Sprint" on http://www.ncccsprint.com/next_ns.htm Also, to get your speed up (as mentioned before), I can highly recommend using programs like RufzXP, CW Freak, and MorseRunner. An attempt or two in RufzXP a day (beware, it's addictive!) and you'll easily copy callsigs at 40wpm within a few weeks. Good luck! 73, Fabian DJ1YFK

RE: Contest for beginners	Reply
by K0IZ on May 29, 2008	Mail this to a friend!
I vote for the state QSO parties. Most participants are more casual in operating, and if you respond with slow code, I think most would respond in kind.

RE: Contest for beginners	Reply
by N0UY on May 29, 2008	Mail this to a friend!
Hi Dave, Philip is right about just keep at it, we all either went through it or are there now just like you. I enjoy working almost all type of cw contests but my favorite is the Stew Perry distance challenge. It is on 160 meters where the speeds are typically 25 wpm. The exchange is easy, just the maiden grid square. It's a lot of fun seeing the points add up as the distance between grids gets farther apart. As far as coping code, the olny advice I can give you is don't worry about the little stuff. Oh by the way, it's only a hobby and it's all litte stuff. cul, ray

RE: Contest for beginners	Reply
by WA2OXZ on May 29, 2008	Mail this to a friend!
Thanks Ray, I'm gonna check out the more local contests and also this rufzxp sw to get my speed up. Right now its hit and miss with getting on the air , so like you said I'll just be doing what I can and enjoy the rest!

RE: Contest for beginners	Reply
by KI9A on May 31, 2008	Mail this to a friend!
Speedlimit will never work..who would enforce it? What I do alot to find new contacts, is to tune the upper end of the cw bands, slower guys hang out there, and are new QSO's. Just get on and call at whatever speed you feel good with!

RE: Contest for beginners	Reply
by N2RJ on June 1, 2008	Mail this to a friend!
I use a "parallel process" of CWGet and my brain.

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