I'm normally a passive reader on here, as I prefer to absorb information
and keep my finger on the pulse of the contesting community, but I have to
reply to this.
So very sadly, today's Generation X has no clue on how to operate, and it
shows. Oh boy, skimmer. Let's see how good ZD8LID really is: we will
all
be S-5 and zero beat on his signal. Good luck on getting ZD8LID active in
your next contest. But hey, look at all the new "operators" we've brought
into contesting. Oh boy..............
As a member of "Generation X" at 34 (in fact, one year removed from
Generation Y), I'm not going to just sit here and take this sort of feces
flinging. I've been contesting for over 15 years now, was a part of the
effort that holds the records for both the June and September ARRL VHF
contest all-time scoring records, and was on the winning NAQP SSB team in
January 2012, to name some of my more notable contesting highlights. Modest
accomplishments to be sure compared to many here, but apparently I have "no
clue on how to operate."
With attitude like this towards younger (younger? I have a kid old enough
to be a ham, for Marconi's sake) hams, it's amazing any new blood comes
into amateur radio - especially into contesting. Perhaps you should put
away that broad brush you've been painting with and realize that not all of
those damn kids on your lawn are incompetent operators.
Another way to go back to real men operating skills, let's convert these
contests into the NA SPRINT format -- for 48 hours. You call CQ, you give
up your frequency and QSY at least 5 kcs. before the next CQ. I don't
think packet, skimmer and RBN crutches will do too well in that format and
if the goal here is solely to eliminate packet cheaters, umm, I think that
might work. Anyone here ready to MAN-UP for something like this?
Okay, fine. I'm "man enough" for this - are you? Are you ready to put your
money where your mouth is, or is this just idle chatter? Sprint is actually
my favorite contest. NAQP is second (which doesn't allow assistance
anyway), and WPX is third - and when I can put in a full effort in WPX, I
go unassisted. When I can only put in a few hours, I do tend to run
assisted since I like to maximize the amount of points I generate for my
club, even though I won't compare favorably in the results on a personal
level. I guess /that/ is what makes me such an incompetent boob behind the
VFO. So glad you helped me figure it out.
Have a nice day.
Andy, NY7N (ex-KB0WJO, W2AJW)
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