This is not meant as a criticism, Al, but is put forth as
a genuine belief.
When I was a youngster of 30-40, I could and did manage to
hang in there for the full 48 hours required by the ARRL DX
contest ('60's). It required two separate weekends of 48
hour participation - if you wanted to be competitive instead
of just being a participant.
Now that I am well past 60 and have a heart condition and
other major health problems (and still love to contest), it
is simply a great hardship on me physically to try to hang
in there for 36 out of 48. I do it but it is really tough.
I would prefer to see the WPX Single Op event reduced to 30
out of the 48 hours for primarily selfish reasons. I
recognize that and I do not want to impose it on others
unless my views are shared by a majority of the contesters
who enter the WPX.
Please consider the average age of contesters. When next you
go to the Contest Banquet at Dayton, look around you. We are
an aging group. The physical hardship of working a contest
is increasing every year for all of us. Sooner or later, the
youngsters become oldsters. Ham radio is not replacing the
General and above licensees as rapidly as we are all becoming
older. (For God's sake, ARRL, don't take that as reason to
push for less code requirements for General and above!!!!!)
If it would benefit a majority of contesters, then I believe
we should go to the 30 out of 48 hours in the WPX. If it
would not be of benefit to a majority of contesters, if it
would not help to level the playing field, then I shall continue
to hang in there as best I can because, God help me, I do love
to contest - I love to compete.
There is one other point I should like to make: and that is
there is no point in running the Boston Marathon if you
haven't even a chance of winning, at least in your category,
unless you like to brag that you ran the Boston Marathon.
There is no point in joining an Ironman Contest if you are a
98 point weakling unless you are a sado-masochist. The
constantly changing Solar Cycle affect on contest scores render
it quite useless to consider competing against oneself. There
is no datum line with which to realistically measure one's own
performance. Score is supreme and in a DX or WPX contest that
depends primarily on propagation, skill, and facilities - not
necessarily in that order of importance (but propagation plays
a very large part..... try contesting during a solar flare
that strikes only the illuminated part of the world (in which
you are in): I've done that. Not fun.
There is only one reason to compete and that is to win. Those
of us that are contesters are, I'm sure, competitive by nature.
If one looks in the dictionary, and applies the definition of
CONTEST, CONTESTANT, COMPETE, COMPETITOR, COMPETITION, PARTICIPATE,
and PARTICIPANT to ham radio contesting, then it is obvious that
you are either a competitor OR a participant - an also ran. If
we were all just participants instead of being competitors, we
would simply be adding to QRM on the contest weekend. Instead,
by being competitors, we are striving to improve our skills, our
facilities, and our scores as compared to others. The winning
score (whether World, National, State, Category, or whatever,
is the ultimate thrill in competition.
Our scores, when compared to others, are the bottom line. That
is the only reason that I compete. I will not be a participant.
I hope that my physical ability will allow me to continue to do
so.
As the two time Olympian, Lones Wigger, said, "No one remembers
who came in second".
For those of you who vigorously dispute or "contest" my opinion,
remember this: it is only my opinion - one of nearly 6 billion
in the world..... but here it is. Remember my desire to stay
within and abide by the wishes of the majority.
Rod Fitz-Randolph, N5HV
w5hvv@aeneas.net
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