This is all well and good and I went to the other site. So what? There
seems to be lots of beating around the bush going on. Why not address
this head on?
What I have noticed in life is that things change and there is not much
we can do about it. As people age, they like change less and less, they
get set in their ways and tell us how good things were in the past.
This has been going on for generations.
There are always people that fear change instead of embracing it. The"
I have won this contest x times doing this way and I will be damned to
do it a different way" will always exist.
SO2R-while many think this is bad it has driven up the scores in many
contests. Technology has allowed the smaller pistol the opportunity to
do what the big boys had been doing for years. SO2R made RTTY contests
far more fun. You have something to do while the other radio diddles
away. There is a group that refuses to embrace or even try this
technology, their stubbornness is leaving them behind.
Computers and black boxes have made RTTY and other digital modes
accessible to far more people than ever before. I think this is good!
There is software the allows small stations to bounce signals off the
moon and make contacts. Most think this is pretty cool and wild. A few
guys which the huge arrays might think otherwise. They say the software
took all the challenge out of it.
Remote contesting is already becoming the next SO2R. What will be next.
Cheaters. People that blatantly cheat, send in logs as SO when Multi
should be uninvited for further involvement from the awards. I have
heard many stories of many dx peditions that never happened where they
said they did. Is there less integrity in the hobby now than 20 or 30
years ago? It is hard to say. News travels at lightning speed now. I
can have contacts confirmed in LOTW almost instantly. Maybe we just
never heard as much 20 or 30 years ago. People have been winning at any
costs probably since we became human. It happens in the Olympics to
online gaming where people are competing over pixels. Lack of integrity
is a not limited to Ham radio but to humanity. Cheating in Ham Radio
contests is certainly not a new revelation is it?
When one is no longer having fun doing something it is probably time to
move on or take a break. Contesting is just one avenue in Ham Radio.
Try something new and different.
I'm having fun with some great High band activity, working some great
DX, planning a contest-pedition, future winter home/remote radio sites
and finally getting around to applying for DXCC. I am not sure my local
card checker is happy with me though Hi!
If people really want to do something about the cheating, I am willing
to help in whatever capacity I can.
W0MU
On 3/8/2011 11:33 PM, Jim Neiger wrote:
> SECRETS OF CONTESTING, CHAPTER 21
>
> There has been a Dark Side to the Force that has worked to diminish fun for
> some as ham radio operators. Previously it had landed solidly in DXing,
> with some operators of reasonable skill, claiming to on certain islands, or
> in certain countries, yet thousands of miles distant. One such recent
> operation that always made me smile with its QSL Card, depicting its team of
> stalwarts wearing their jungle uniforms, purporting to be in a southeast
> Asia rarity. I guess it proved to be bogus, and I was later told that their
> jungle pith helmets should more likely be traded in for bearskin hats with
> which Arctic residents might adorn themselves. Obviously its leader had been
> watching a Shakespearean tragedy. But I digress.........
>
> And now, sad to know, this Dark Force has permeated its way into our
> wonderful world of contesting. Some call it Radio Sporting. But for some,
> it's much more than a sport. To the fortune of serious contesters , the
> great majority play by the rules.
>
> But a few seemingly must win at any cost. One can only wonder what they
> imagine they've won? I will leave that to the reader to speculate.
>
> Twenty years ago, the WRTC's endeavored to level the playing field, even
> taking the radical step to have 24 hour referee's, so as to try ensure that
> all really do have fun, and play by the rules. A couple years ago, Al 4L5A /
> D4B, believing so strongly in the integrity of our sport, put his money where
> his mouth is, and dug into his own wallet to 100% finance some referees to
> cover three CQ WW CW SO/AB operations, all competing for world-high from the
> DX-end. Unfortunately, Al's generous efforts resulted in more
> recriminations, more mis-conceptions, and simply stated, abject stupidity on
> the part of a few who should know better.
>
> BOTTOM-LINE: that was the end of the 4L5A bank-roll of contesting referee's.
> Too bad; it could've perhaps done some good.
>
> In one of my earlier Secret's of Contesting episodes, I wrote of the
> principles to which successful contester's can and should aspire.
>
> Perseverance
> Belief in yourself
> Resilience
> Willingness to outwork your opponents
> Pride in your work
> Impregnable determination
>
> Well, in those 20 some years that have passed, radio contesting has become a
> different animal. Many/most blame/credit it to technology. Computers
> Skimmers RBN Packet etc etc Some think it's a godsend. Others
> disdain. Many words have been written on this forum, and it's not my intent
> to re-invent that wheel.
>
> However, with new technologies and "skills", I believe that for contesting to
> have ANY meaning, it must be done with integrity. Absent that, I believe its
> future will be sadly limited, and ultimately relegated to the ash-pile of
> history.
>
> Al, 4L5A / D4B has been my good friend for almost 40 years, although we have
> never met. During his remarkable D4B operations of the last decade, he
> certainly opened some eyes as to how to build, and operate, a world class
> station on Sao Vicente, Cabo Verde - the island where I was fortunate to sign
> D44BC for six CQ WW CW contests from 1985 onward - but I was a comparative
> amateur to the operating skills that Al demonstrated. That Al decided to
> leave active contesting was most unfortunate; but he had his reasons.
>
> The real SECRET here is that Al has developed a radio-contesting web-site
> where numerous interesting articles have been posted. I found a recent
> submittal of his to be topical and timely. It certainly focuses upon
> integrity in recent times.
>
> Please click on the following link:
>
>
> http://contesting.at-communication.com/en/rd3a_valery-komarov_start-or-finish/
>
>
> I know Al will welcome your ideas, comments, and opinions upon how to
> ensure that we all are driving with a license and have both hands on the
> wheel.
>
> Very 73,
>
> Jim Neiger N6TJ
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> CQ-Contest mailing list
> CQ-Contest@contesting.com
> http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/cq-contest
_______________________________________________
CQ-Contest mailing list
CQ-Contest@contesting.com
http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/cq-contest
|