On Sun, 13 January 2002, Pete Smith wrote:
> If competitive activities are so popular with the
> young, why would the ARRL want to downplay and
> virtually eliminate these components from QST's
> coverage of amateur radio?
Good question.
I think radio contesting would be extremely popular
with the young. Unfortunately, it seems that we (not
just the League) have been unable to capitalize.
It is certain that the ARRL feels pressure from
some to abandon contests, since, after all, we all
know just how *disruptive* contesting can be and God
forbid the League be a party to any of it. Taking out
the lines scores might be perceived as a way to appease the whiners.
Sure, we contesters could all benefit from expanded
coverage on the web (assuming it actually happens).
Searchable scores, more photos, etc. And... younger
hams, who tend to also be Internet savvy, may actually
get MORE exposure to contesting via the web.
Most assuredly, I would miss the page after page
of line scores. Some might say that they do little to
attract any new blood. I disagree. Sure, they might
turn some off, but I remember when I learned that
EVERY score got published, I thought, "I can get my
call in print!" Sticking it on a web site is so much
more trivial.
Maybe I read K1RO's post differently than some, but
Mark stated the ARRL intends to replace line scores
with "write-ups" and promotional material. So there's
going to be some number of contest pages. This is
going to take more work (8 pages of scores are easier to generate than even a
few pages of text). If the
ARRL is serious about replacing the line score pages
with an even somewhat equivalent number of contesting article pages, I think it
might be a net gain.
If, however, they simply relocate the scores to the
web, and drop the ball on the articles, I'll be
truly disappointed.
73 Mike N2MG
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