Since I am in "lockdown" I have a bit more time to operate CW and also to moan :-)

Why Oh Why do some operators on HF send at such silly speeds? They must be using a computer to do it, they seem to sit calling CQ for hours without a reply, surely they must realise the speed is so high no one can read it, well, I can't!

Another thing, If I call CQ at 18 wpm I do not expect a reply at 30 wpm, I cant read it and now I sadly just ignore such replies. If you hear me and call me at 5 wpm that is the speed I will reply at, it's only polite.

With the bands opening up again maybe it time to restore some order to them. Lets have a compulsory 10 kHz section of the HF bands that are free from contest operators.

Moans over Geoff

This biggest moan I have Geoff, is the lack of space between their CQs to squeeze a reply in! So many times I have answered with just my call and as the QSK drops out I hear them half-way through the next CQ ... I often just give up ....

73 David G4NRT

and then there are the ones that do not know how to space the characters correctly and it ends up
in an un-readable mess !! i have military experience of hand sent morse but some of this is awful.

This, every time. Even when it's not a contest.

Seconded, you could often be forgiven for thinking the repetitive CQ calls were just a machine generated endless loop, while whichever operator has set it in motion is actually off doing something else as opposed to seriously looking for any replies, with the only reply even remotely fast enough to squeeze into the ridiculously short pause between CQ calls, being yet another "CW machine" with a fast processor!
Sadly these days my human processor and associated hardware is running a tad slower than their machine ones!

I agree with all the foregoing. In CW contests that I enter, I ignore all computer generated morse because most of the time they are using a computer to read the incoming stuff! That's not CW, its keyboard operating and has no place in CW. They should stick to RTTY.
73 de Ken G3RFH

I am pleased I am not alone....

Including a lot of people using their beloved bugs. Hateful things in the wrong hands... dots set to 700wpm, dashes set to 6 and spaces more variable than easter.

They refer to that style of sending as "banana boat swing"...

Maybe many of the QRQ CQ's are simply folks testing antennas/propagation via the reverse beacon network, and are possibly not really interested in having qso's at all.


73, Mark...

Mine is when they send S K as two separate letters instead of together as 'SK' , I always assume I have spoke to a computer when that happens if the rest of the QSO had clean Morse.

I like to reply with it correctly then finish with a V A, seperate

I can't see why you would want to send a "V" and an "A" separately when you have just sent the procedure character correctly?


73, Mark...

To.make a.point?