Perhaps it is why we need to keep contest managers in check when they change
rules that are to the detriment of tech advantage -
The extra levels of superb placed by the Russians at CN2AA or the lads at 4O3A
have made a lot of us realise there is a whole other world out there in how far
you can extend a station.
I live in dread that an over zealous contest manger changes the rules in such a
way that these high tech stations are disadvantaged and we dumb the hobby down
again...
TrentVK4TS PO Box 275 Mooloolaba 4557 0408497550
> Date: Thu, 24 Mar 2016 23:04:10 -0400
> From: thompson@mindspring.com
> To: cq-contest@contesting.com
> Subject: Re: [CQ-Contest] ....youth in contesting
>
>
> I agree with several reports that it took several years for amateur radio
> and amateur radio contesting to catch up with the computer revolution. I
> bought my first CAT YAESU in 1983 but it only supported the old apple not the
> newer IBM PC. I would up with a Wang Professional PC in 1985 and finally got
> a DOS program and proper interface to run PC control of the transceiver.
> K4SB (SK) had written a program for the TRS-80 and adapted it to the IBM PC.
> Still no real logging programs insight for contesting until K1EA wrote CT and
> Dave K8CC wrote NA.
>
> Don N4IN asked me to help with the CQ WW 160 Contests as he needed PC help
> and help with the SSB section that started in 1881. He and K4SB had written
> simple programs for his TRS-80 The main program was a master list which
> started with big logs like WB9Z being typed in. The log checking program was
> low level and all logs were hand written so trying to use the log checking
> program was not feasible. His XYL Helen got an IBM PC in about 1989 and I
> got K4SB to help move the programs to the PC. By 1992 many logs were in NA
> or CT but culling out actual QSOs from header and break lines was difficult.
> Don viewed each log as a personal letter to him and he would spend hours
> manually cross checking the logs. I have examples of logs that were at best
> almost pure fabrications. As many as 60% were uniques and one log had maybe
> 300 good QSOs in a 1200 QSO log. HE DQed several each year and I now did the
> same for SSB. We got about 50% of the logs into K4SB's programs but still d
id
> manual cross checking. I got several SEDXC hams to help but it was obvious
> we needed something better.
>
> The cabrillo format was designed by several active contesters led by Trey now
> N5KO. After Don passed away I found WT4I was writing a log checking suite
> that even included a cabrillo converter for programs like CT and NA.
> I sure could have used this in past years.
>
> I feel there is still resistance to new technologies today and we OT's can
> often stand in the way of younger contesters and innovation.
>
> Back when I started contesting in 1958 many were youngsters as young as 10.
> Dave K1ZZ was into contesting at an early age and I remember a quote in a
> 1969 QST for the ARRL SS "that youngsters were snapping up many awards." As
> many of us age we need to welcome the new hams into contesting and remember
> we are competing with gamers like my son who spend hours on line. He got his
> degree in IT and now works for a Fiber optic Cisco Competitor. His attitude
> is amateur radio is far behind the technology curve. This was echoed by the
> then the FCC Chairman and son of Colin Powell. On a flight he saw me reading
> QST and upon asking if I was a ham he asked if we still used old technologies
> such as CW, RTTY, or SSB. This was about 15 years or more ago.
>
> Dave K4JRB
>
>
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