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[CQ-Contest] theories on contesting (contesters manifesto)

Subject: [CQ-Contest] theories on contesting (contesters manifesto)
From: rlboyd@CapAccess.org (Rich L. Boyd)
Date: Tue Mar 18 12:02:15 1997
Theories on Contesting (Contesters Manifesto)

1.  As a group, contesters are the most numerous category of hams active 
on HF.  This is particularly true if the related and heavily overlapping 
category of "DXers" is included.  (Most DXers make contest QSOs, even if 
they do not consider themselves "contesters."  Many top contesters do 
consider themselves DXers, though many don't.)

2.  As a category, contesters are the most skilled operators in ham radio.

3.  As a category, contesters have the best equipped stations (inside and 
outside) in ham radio.

4.  Contesters' knowledge of station construction, in the shack and 
outside on the antenna farm, is higher than any other group.

5.  Given all the above, contesters are the group within ham radio who 
have most met the commission of being "a trained group of radio operators 
and technicians...capable of serving in emergencies," national and 
internatinal crises, etc.  Contesters are the most constructive group 
within ham radio.

6. The stations contesters build and maintain at their own expense are a 
national and international resource (and probably should be tax deductible).

7.  Contesters themselves, by achieving and maintaining high skill 
levels, are a national and international resource.

8.  Given the above, contesters have at least as great a right as any 
other group to use of the spectrum, arguably more, by virtue of their 
greater numbers and greater contribution to the skill resource and 
station resource pool.

9.  It is often said that "Field Day is not a contest; it's an emergency 
preparedness exercise."  This has caused me to consider that:  "There are 
no contests; they're all emergency preparedness exercises or `operating 
events.'"

10.  Contests are a highly constructive aspect of ham radio, because they 
inspire us to build large capabilities in terms of station and operator 
skills.  As operating events or "exercises," they are important in 
developing high skill levels.

Note:  Maybe I've been reading too many Thomas Jefferson biographies or 
TV documentaries, hence the "manifesto" concept.  hihi.  My apologies; 
don't mean to be too "high falutin'."  But now that I've mentioned 
Jefferson...it occurs to me that if he were alive today he would probably 
be a ham -- as would Ben Franklin -- and they would both probably favor 
CW.  hihi.

73 - Rich Boyd, KE3Q


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