<<SNIP>>
Has anyone heard anything about making 2-radio OPS a new class? What do
you think?
<<SNIP>>
Well, I'll probably get well roasted from flames but this ol' coot has
got to have his say on the matter.
When I moved to Tennessee, I thought I'd put up as much antenna as I
could afford because I knew this would be my last operating station
location. I did just that: put up as much as I could.
Then I bought a nice amplifier and an FT-1000MP and so forth, thinking
that the ol' coot will give his best effort as long as he could.
Now, I find that (in the CQWW contest, at least) that in order to be
competitive in the SINGLE OP classification that I can't just have a
single transmitter.... I have to have TWO TRANSMITTERS (got that two
xmtrs bit). Obviously, to take full advantage of the use of the two
separate rigs, I'd have to have two sets of antennas.
Having spent over $20,000 to date on this equipment, I now find I
"can't be competitive unless you have two rigs".
What am I missing here? Where is the sense in all this.
It is taking on the flavor of the shooting sports in which we use to
be able to go to the range with a Gold Cup .45 and shoot in the
I.P.S.C. events... but then the "pin" guns started showing up and the
equipment became more and more sophisticated until now, you aren't
competitive unless your piece has cost in the neighborhood of $4-5K!!
Where does it stop?
It use to be that you could take your youngster out to the shooting
range and teach him to shoot (and win some matches) with a modest .22
rifle. Now it requires a $2000+ Anschutz or Walther or Feinwerbau
rifle and that is just the beginning. I spent over $50,000 on my sons
shooting equipment and their match fees in order to get them up to
World Class Shooter status (Olympics, Pan Am Games, World
Championships, etc). Now that was 24 years ago - I shudder to think
of what it would cost now.
Is contesting going to go in this same direction? Can it be possibly
rationalized as being reasonable and in the vein of "encouraging
participation by more hams" to have the single op necessarily have two
separate rigs and antennas in order to be competitive with other
"Single Op" stations?
There is no reason for me to engage in further contesting unless I
have a fighting chance to be competitive. I can't compete with IQ4A's
concept of Multi-Single or with the two rig "Single Op" stations. If
we can't compete on any level playing ground, there is no reason to
even try.
In my opinion, unless some common sense and reasoning is applied to
the rules so as to either place strict limitations on what each
category can use/do OR if there is no amplified or additional
categories placed so that Single Ops, with a station that contains
only one transmitter only, can compete against other Single Ops with a
station that only contains one transmitter, then the same thing will
happen to contesting that is happening to competitive shooting the
world over. It is dying.... as will contesting, I fear...
Let's hope that some common sense will prevail.... and soon. I'd like
to continue "competing" but if there is not even a remote chance of
winning or at least being competitive, then I (and I suspect a lot of
others, as well) will have to find another avocation or, at least,
another aspect of ham radio to become interested in
Save your flames. I know where the delete key is and I'm fast on the
trigger.
Sign me,
The Ol' Coot that loves to compete (when it's possible)
Rod, N5HV
w5hvv@aeneas.net
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