Frighteningly enough I often agree with with Mal, but I'm afraid I can't
do so this time.
I don't think that reliance on clusters has anything to do with any
"generation" of contesters. I'd bet my rig that there are just as many
old timers who now predominantly use clusters instead of manually
searching the bands as there are newer hams. And I'd bet that it has
rather little to do with being "lazy" and more to do with the time that
people are willing to spend in a contest or chasing DX. Check out the
statistics on the number of hours the majority of hams spend in any
contest ... it isn't a very high percentage of the total contest
period. Check out the percentage of contest participants who submit a
log ... I'd be surprised if it typically exceeds 10%. Spotting clusters
bypass a skill that used to be part and parcel of operating an amateur
radio station, but so does using a memory keyer or buying a commercial
antenna or any number of other things I could come up with.
Personally, I can think of other lost arts in our hobby that would
concern me much more than how well someone can find another station.
What about how to time a call in a pileup, or adjust your rig to put out
a clean signal, or make a crisp contact in a contest, or have the least
little bit understanding of propagation? People who want to shut down
the spotting tools seem to think that they're the worst things going on
in our hobby, but they aren't. They're merely some of the most popular,
most visible, and easiest to identify a "solution" for.
Clusters aren't ruining our hobby ... bad behavior, stodginess, and
intolerance is.
Dave AB7E
On 2/28/2011 7:30 AM, N7mal wrote:
I don't often, if ever, agree with Hans, K0HB, but this time he has hit the
nail on the head.
More than 20 years ago I was an early packet-cluster sysop. That means there
is a whole generation of hams who know nothing but the clusters. Then
there's another generation of hams who have just become 'flat-out' lazy in
their contesting and DXing efforts. They have completely forgotten the term
S&P. If their local cluster goes down they hyperventilate. No I'm not
nostalgic for the good 'ole' days because I'm connected to VE7CC 24/7. I
also don't think turning off technology will mean the end of ham radio.
Put me down as 100% in............
73
MAL
N7MAL
BULLHEAD CITY, AZ
http://www.n7mal.com
Everyone in the world is
entitled to be burdened
by my opinion
----- Original Message -----
Subject: [CQ-Contest] Just one weekend
Let’s pick one summer weekend in 2012, when no DXpedition is planned and
no significant international contest is scheduled. Maybe the second weekend
of August.
On that weekend, let’s turn off all the DX packet clusters, all the
internet spotting networks, all the skimmers, all the RBN’s, and just play
“a boy and his radio�.
Just one weekend, 18 months from now.
Talk it up. Pass it on.
73, de Hans, K0HB/K7
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