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CW contesting and the Reverse Beacon Network
Fast exchanges and automated decoding.
Fast exchanges and automated decoding.
In a CW contest the aim is as many contacts as possible in a fixed time, so every QSO is stripped to the minimum: a call sign, a short exchange, and a thanks. A typical exchange is the report and a serial number or location, sent once.
| Sent | Meaning |
|---|---|
| 5NN | the report 599, with N standing in for 9 (a "cut number") |
| a number or place | the contest's required exchange, e.g. a serial number, state or zone |
| TU | thank you, contact over; the next call follows immediately |
Operators typically send at speeds well above casual QSOs, and a computer or the radio's keyer sends stored messages (call, exchange, CQ) at the press of a key so the operator can listen. There are two basic styles: running (calling CQ on one frequency and letting callers come to you) and search and pounce (tuning around and calling others). For how scoring and categories work, see Contesting, and Logging and contest software for the software.
A normal beacon is a transmitter that sends a known signal so you can listen and judge propagation. The Reverse Beacon Network (RBN) turns that around: you transmit, and a network of volunteer skimmer receivers listens, decodes the Morse by software, and reports what it hears.
A skimmer typically decodes many signals across a band at once. When it hears a station calling CQ, it publishes a spot: who, on what frequency, at what signal-to-noise ratio, and at what speed. The spots from all skimmers are collected and shown publicly, and are available to logging software.
Decoding is automatic, so mistakes happen: spots can be wrong, especially for weak or fast signals, and the numbers depend on each skimmer's receiver and local noise. Read the SNR as a comparison between your own tests, not an exact measurement. For how decoding works and where it fails, see Decoding CW by ear and by computer.