----- Original Message -----
From: "Kelly Taylor" <theroadtrip@mts.net>
> The question, then, is at what point does technology become
> unsuitable for contests of skill?
I have already suggested an answer to this question, although
I've used the word "inappropriate" rather than "unsuitable".
It is when the effect of the technology would be disproportionate
or when it would change the nature of the activity conerned.
I hold the quaint old-fashioned notion that the nature of
amateur radio, and of contesting in particular, is to use only
amateur band RF and modes to find and work other contesters.
<snip>
> is it (a DX contest) a test of the whole bag of skills that
> go in to the art of working DX? Or is it a test of your
> ability to integrate all available technology into a
> winning score?
It is a test of both skill and technology, so long as that
technology does not change the nature of the activity.
To the extent that the internet replaces RF, there can be
no question that the nature of contesting has indeed changed.
> Where does that line get crossed?
By replacing RF with any other communications technology,
so that the wires have been put back into wireless.
> If I don't even have to decode a QSO myself;
Well, that's not putting the wires back into wireless,
but it could mean that you have reduced CW to the status
of just another data mode - you may or may not want that.
> Or is it enough to say that there's an unlimited category
> and those who want to push the envelope compete by themselves
> and those who want to stay traditional can stay in the
> unassisted?
An unlimited category is a meaningless concept. When
there are no constraints there can be no real competition.
How about unlimited mountaineering where you use helicopters
to get to the top? No one has yet done it on Everest.
I suggest it's time to time to abandon the outdated
notion of unassisted and assisted, and call it what it
is - amateur radio contesting and internet contesting.
I'm an "unassisted" amateur radio contester, and I
welcome all the help I can get from modern technology
so long as it doesn't replace RF or decode CW for me.
73,
Paul EI5DI
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