Robert Casey wrote:
Mike Coslo wrote:


Is a brand new Extra, who has never been on HF, even accept
Elmering? Or will they insist that the conventions that have been
developed over the years are not applicable to them.

This is not as far-fetched as it may seem. I tried to help out a
new Extra in a contest once. I knew he did not have any HF experience
at all, yet he wanted a bare minimum of help. After showing him where
the PTT was, and how to change bands, I started to explain the
structure of a contest QSO. He interrupted me after the first sentence
with a "not to be rude, but I'll take over now". I came back the next
morning and saw the results of his work. Six QSO's! He was working at
the rate of 1 QSO per hour under *good* band conditions!

Always some idiots.... When I got my "extra lite" on restructuring
day, went home to fire up the
Kenwood HF rig I bought used (strung an antenna that vaguely resembled a
dipole before) and
listened around a bit to get a feel on how QSOs are done on HF. That
and some experience
on ten between 28.3 and 28.5 I started keying up the mic mostly to
respond to CQs. After some
newbie type errors I think I have the hang of it now..... With the
combination of a boring common
prefix callsign, low power (~50 watts) and a crummy antenna, you develop
some skill.
The key is to realize that when entering into a new environment, one may
not have all the
facts right, and be willing to adjust accordingly.

That's the way to do it. By the time, I got my General, I was actually
pretty used to HF operation. As a tech, I had operated in some contests
that the club participated in, plus a field day. (to the sticklers -
yes, with a control op)

They tricked me! Got me hooked on contesting, and I had no choice but
to upgrade!!! Well they really didn't trick me, but it worked out that
way anyhow.

But every time I try out a different mode, I spen weeks listening
before I ever transmit. I hope these new people will do the same.

- Mike KB3EIA