Amen@!!!! but,,if" they" make it that simple, "they" no longer have
job security...
Most every award , etc developed is with the idea of more activity and
more income/members for "them"--follow the money....
Back in the day, when I would work a new country, and was sure of it, I
did not try to work it again, every band , every mode, every
operator--kind of like hunting, I never took more game, than I could
eat or give to some one else.. I just think that this award stuff has
gotten silly and stupid, and a lot us , including me, has(had) bought in
to it...
At 73 I should worry a lot more about other things other than about
reaching 2000 band countries...in total that should mean very little,
and certainly does not indicate that I am such a hot shot op...
Bring on k1n!! I need them on 160--but that is now a personal
goal,,,some where along the line,, we(I) need to get a grip--since 15
yrs of age, ham radio has been and still is my life,, but golly, there
are surely other things..(I have a dog)
Tom, thanks for your comments and giving me a reality check
73 john
On 1/30/2015 12:50 PM, Tom W8JI wrote:
Now, consider this: We keep talking about remote RX, and the attendant
problems of getting full SDR data back to the main station where the
operator is located. Lets flip this around. Lets move the operator
to the
receive site, and move the transmitter 100 miles away. That way, we
only
need low bandwidth - keying data, TX audio, and perhaps TX antenna
switching. Does THIS change things at all?
In other words - use the full receiving capabilities of your current
station, and take away transmitter hash. Poof! No longer an issue,
because the TX is now 100 miles away...
This is a serious game changer in my books, and needs a serious rethink
before we say "hmmm - OK - old guys need this - no problem - sounds
fine..."
People are putting far too much emotion in this. It is a technical
issue. The technology to do this at one site is not all that difficult.
Get a K3 and a reasonable amplifier, and you have minimal composite
noise on site. Phase-null the TX antenna out of the RX antenna ahead
of any RX amplification, and you can get down to noise floor at 1500
watts with reasonable spacing.
Even if the transmitter is nulled, the contact advantage is minimal in
a 160 contest. The reason is any good station will run the band nearly
dry of contacts. You pick up far more contacts with the operator going
slow at slow times to get slow stations than someone would ever get by
duplex. The primary advantage to duplex is in multi-op, where an
operator can be dedicated to moving up and down the band picking
people off. Successful multi-ops already have space to duplex, at
least to some reasonable extent.
The real advantage to remote or split site is a better noise or
antenna environment. What we should be debating are the real facts and
effects, not what we want to be the facts.
As for DXCC, since sometime in the 1990's (as I recall), we could
legally move anywhere or operate anywhere and collect DXCC. Prior to
that, it was not unheard of for people to call people on the phone to
"help" them get a new country. 160 meters for many years had a
phone-a-friend list. I recall that going on in various forms since the
1970's, at least. Suddenly, it is a major problem that will ruin radio
as we know it!
The most tragic thing I recall in Ham radio was hearing W8UDN, Ed, (a
person I rarely spoke to) actually crying on the radio when he was
losing his 160 station. Listening to Ed's open distress and sadness at
no longer being able to enjoy something he loved for most of his life
turned a page for me.
If letting someone who loves radio operate a radio, however he can
manage to do it, without unfairly taking away from other's ability to
enjoy what they want, I'm all for it.
I think anyone who bases their success or value in life by how they
rank in something as silly as a national DXCC list, or worrying about
someone making 50 more contacts in a contest, deserves all the angst
and distress worrying about others creates for them.
I hope the people who write rules eventually let people like VO1HP
enjoy radio, instead of false concerns. Radio is all the better when
we help each other, instead of holding someone like Ed back.
73 Tom
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