Ron,
I think the "training" station is an excellent idea. When I was very active
with our local club we set up both "serious" and "fun" stations for phone
and CW. That way everyone could operate with at their own "contest skill"
level...but without the "Elmers" you suggest.
I think we've lost a lot of the "Elemering" in Amateur Radio...especially
when it comes to operating. One of the ops here over the weekend commented
that if I thought the level of operating skill during the VHF contest a
couple of weekends ago was weak... with the added "FD" element we found
operators on 6m this weekend that could only be described as "clueless". I'm
not casting aspersions at all, just stating a factual observation.
Maybe ARRL should consider a 500 point bonus for an "operator skill training
award" at FD. Don't know how you'd verify that but it's worth talking about
I guess I'd start the training with having "listening" training...and not
calling "CQ contest"...rather "CQ FD" ( a pet peeve of mine). And how about
"Q signals"...I heard one operator giving the exchange as "your QRZ is 3
Alpha, Nevada!...precedent and section changed to protect the guilty)
In the tasteless trivia department...I heard W5HUM work K4SEX....too bad I
didn't work N2BJ until later. W0BFD didn't care and W3MAD wasn't.
Questionable operating ethics: N0SS running on SSB at 7151 khz..and I wish
I'd written down the calls of the stations who were on 7299 and 7300 (!!!)
SSB on Sunday!! I was on 40 m S&P on Sunday morning and didn't call any of
these stations because of their operating frequencies...N0SS I could hear
you at 7048!!!
Regards,
Mark K9GX
Trustee: KY9IN, Kentuckiana Radiosport Association. (1A, Indiana)
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