On Tue, 17 Aug 2004 00:21:39 -0700, Michael Tope wrote:
>Some would argue that it takes a masochistic streak to do it
>with low power and mediocre antennas.
I would say the opposite. Most current award and contest structures
reward those who buy more of the most expensive gear and assemble
the biggest stations. They cater to the the rich, not to ordinary hams.
They reward the ability for the brain to process two QSO's at a time and
type the information into a computer. I see this structure as basically
flawed.
The structure of most contests requires a signal report. When is the last
time you sent or received a real signal report during a contest? When's
the last time you did that working DX? I worked the WAE contest at 5
watts, and well over half of the QSO's I made required repeats of my
call and the serial number, but every single RST was 599. Huh?
Yes, most contests do have "classes" for less than 150 watts, and
some do for QRP. But it's very different running 100 watts when
everyone else is running 100 watts as compared to when everyone else
is running 1.5 kW.
Ah, you might say, it's also about antennas. I say it's about LEARNING
about antennas, about how to do more with less. I have far more
respect for someone who has spent time designing and building an
antenna that fits into a restrictive residential situation than for one who
buys whatever monster multiband antenna that someone else designed
and puts it on a big tower.
Some "big" contesters and DXers don't even sign their calls often
enough for folks to know who they are by tuning the band -- you have to
use a computer to find out who these guys are! Or they work at high
speeds, under the assumption (often wrong) that they have such a big
signal that it's no problem to copy them at high speed. These guys are
LIDS too.
One other point. When you are running high power, you can be causing
serious QRM to folks who you can't even hear. When you are running 12
dB more power than everyone else, you have the responsibility for
LISTENING 12 dB more carefully to your operating frequency, including
the time "between your signals."
Jim Brown K9YC
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