I had lunch with a friend, Dennis KT8X, yesterday, and he told me a funny story. Dennis is a big contester, and he was telling me that he’ll often use a name other than Dennis when operating a contest. When I asked why, he said that throws off the contestants that use a name database.
“Name database?,” I asked. “Yeah,” he said, “some guys use a database of calls and names to automatically fill in the name field of a contest log so that they don’t have to actually copy the name. So, since contests don’t require that you use your own name, I’ll sometimes use something different. If they don’t actually copy what I’m sending, they’ll lose the score for that particular QSO.”
I laughed, first because it never occurred to me to use a name database to make logging easier, but also because of one of the names he has used. “The last time I did this,” he said, “I used the name ‘Putz.'” He said he’s gotten a couple of nastygrams for doing this, but he just blows them off, reasoning that it’s their responsibility to actually copy the name being sent and not his to send a name that they have in the database.
He’s right about that, too.
Contest Simulator
Want to improve your contesting skills? Dennis also provided me with the URL for Morse Runner 1.4. This software simulates contest conditions, testing how well you can copy contest exchanges. It will also simulate various band conditions, including QRM, QRN, QSB, flutter, and poor operators. Another cool thing is that it’s free.
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