<<<NB --- "you" and "your" as referenced in my little diatribe is the
collective "you" and "your" and not you specifically.>>>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: cq-contest-bounces@contesting.com
> [mailto:cq-contest-bounces@contesting.com] On Behalf Of Tom Taormina
> Sent: March 28, 2007 23:09
> To: cq-contest@contesting.com
> Subject: [CQ-Contest] Remote Contesting
>
> This is starting to sound like the discussions of 30 years
> ago about packet that led to SO-A class entries.
>
And people still get confused as to what constitutes "assistance" so, if you
ask me, this issue hasn't been resolved yet. Why jump into another one?
> Part of the future of our hobby is symbiosis with computers
> and the Internet. I suggest that remote stations, and even
> remote stations for hire, are going to be part of the
> landscape of contesting within a few years. We had best look
> forward to a new set of categories to accommodate SO, MS, M2,
> MM remote operating. Think of how inventive we could get if
> we made it a wide-open category, i.e., no geographic
> boundaries on the remote locations! What a hoot that might be.
> Imagine the rates you could have running a remote in EA9 from
> an apartment in Sheboygan?
>
> Maybe it's just me, but I always look at what is and think
> about what is possible. The status quo is for old fogies with
> no vision.
I have to take exception to this characterization as I am neither old nor am
I "Fogie"-ish. And my vision is perfect. I don't want the status quo. I
would like to see someone invent a better mousetrap... not move the
mousetrap and call it better.
I am growing tired of having to defend my position against the Borg-like
"Resistance is futile" view of technology and progress. I find it extremely
humourous that there is this push on to make radio, always known for its
ability to transcend physical media in order to pass information, so heavily
reliant on a wired network. And this is called progress? That is funny to
me.
Inventive to me was the development of the SteppIR antenna. This took an
already good thing and made it better. I fail to see how taking all your
equipment, shipping it to a foreign country and operating it remotely
benefits anyone but you.
Some tried and true characteristics of amateur radio should never be pushed
aside in the name of technology or progress and, in my opinion, the main one
is that the operator is a key element in the operation and should be a part
of the station. When you remove the operator from the site, you open the
door for removing the operator from the hobby. If you want to brag that your
equipment beat my equipment, feel free and if you're living in an apartment
in Sheboygan and the closest place you can set up a remote station is Ceuta,
then there's a problem here far greater than we realize.
Some have argued that opening the door to remote operation will increase the
numbers of amateurs on the bands. Frankly, if they don't have the drive to
set up a station as best they can now, then a glorified video game is not
going to hold their attention for very long. Ultimately, only the truly
interested will stick with the hobby. This hasn't changed as long as I've
been a involved in the hobby.
Having forward vision doesn't mean you won't trip on what's directly in
front of you and fall on your face.
73 -- Paul VO1HE
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