>This feed offers one huge advantage for contesters, because the RBN
>spots *every* station it hears
Huge advantage for which contesters?
So far this discussion seems to have mostly leaned toward the viewpoint of ops
from "this side" of things. How about the guys on the "other side" of things,
the ones op'ing from Less-Than-Garden-Variety DX locations? As an occasional
LTGV DX guy, I would sometimes prefer LESS spots as it would sometimes allow me
to work MORE stations.
When I was in Africa last year for CQWW CW, it was terribly frustrating trying
to keep a decent rate on 20m during the last few hours of the contest. I'd
find a hole in the band, work some guys at a decent clip, then "BOOM" I'm on
the cluster and all hell breaks loose. You can fight it for a while but
eventually your only recourse is to start over on another frequency, work as
many as you can until you're spotted again, repeat as necessary. This is less
of a problem on bands where you're hearing the DX louder than you hear most of
the callers. On a band like 20m, where you're likely to be hearing everyone
else too, it quickly turns to chaos when you can't hear the DX come back to
someone because of the non-stop spot pouncers who have to try to be the last
one in the pile.....etc., etc. That simply isn't much fun for the LTGV DX guy.
So maybe you can see why someone might prefer to be spotted less.
Would this RBN feed add to the problem? Hard to say - the existing cluster is
already a behemoth. One could maybe even argue that the pileups would thin out
as there would be so many more options for the Cluster Corps to chase after.
Dunno. But it has me reevaluating traveling to LTGV DX spots for contests.
(At least during non-contest times I can send "UP")
I'm NOT anti-cluster, anti-skimmer, anti-technology, etc. Having a system that
spots everything might be a huge boon to the scores of the guys on "this side."
It may not be equally as good for the guys on the the "other side."
73, Mike K9NW
_______________________________________________
CQ-Contest mailing list
CQ-Contest@contesting.com
http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/cq-contest
|