I don't think there is any doubt that Packetcluster has made DXCC and even
honor roll easier to achieve, and that a growing dependency on Packetcluster
has lead to a general degradation of DXing skills. There are a lot of us who
have more fun *making* putouts than chasing them, but there are even more who
just blankly gaze at the screen, salivate at the beep, QSY, tune, and call.
But the handheld calculator seriously degraded my math skills, as did the slide
rule before it, microwave ovens would have dragged down my cooking skills if I
had any, and transistorized finals have made my dipping and peaking talents
obsolete. And so it goes.
Technology marches on, but I am still an optimist. Cream always rises. Out of
the sloppy come the skilled, maintaining a fairly constant skill-to-slop ratio
over the ages. There are more lid DXers since Packetcluster, but there are also
a lot more DXers. As a contest club PVRC was on the edge of extinction until
N2FB and W3LPL put up a cluster node. Club membership has nearly doubled, and I
bet 90% of them were introduced to the club through the cluster. Many of them
may never break 1M points in a contest, but some will become top operators -
and the skill-to-slop ratio will be maintained. Unfortunately, YCCC and FRC
have higher ratios and are 6db ahead in total amplitude.
If you go back through old QSTs, NCJs, or DX newsletters, complaints about
degradation in skill are a close second to complaints about geographical
advantages. Pre-packet, pre-two meter spotting, pre-commercial tribanders,
pre-store bought amps, there were still a lot of lids doing stupid things in
pileups.
The difference these days is that what many of us have enjoyed over the years
as a solitary pursuit is becoming "groupware," due to ubiquitous (sp?)
communications links, such as Packetcluster, this net, voice mail, etc. Dayton,
and maybe Visalia for a few, used to the only way to trade contest stories and
whine about inequities. Now we can whine almost real time! Who'd of thought you
could come back to work on Monday after a DX test, and see an email note from
UZ0AXX detailing their score!!
The technology marches on but the same top guys still seem to manage to rise to
the top ten of most contests. The noise is rising, but the signals are getting
stronger too.
This soliloquy (sp??????) brought to you by the fact that there is absolutely
noone in the office today but me.
Happy New Year
John WB2EKK
PESCATORE_JT@NCSD.GTE.COM
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