Thanks & Pranks & WRTC

[BK1ZX70SFL at aol.com]

WOW

To all who supplied me with an E-mail address for Bob, W9NQ...and one attempt
at giving me W2NQ/7's address....thanks guys! Several of you are under the
same misconception I was...that Bob is @aol.com - NOT. he is still W9NQ (but
@ccis.com)....thanks to the dozen plus guys who responded, this truly is a
good community we have here...albeit frazzled in part do to low sunspot
numbas, I am sure.

Now that I am an AOL subscriber I have been doing a little Web surfing (nice
stuff 'FOX/KM9P/PVRC/FRC). In addition to running up hours there I tried
checking into the "chat rooms".  The other night within moments of my loggin
on and into the "Over 40" chat room, alas, yes - it is true. I was instantly
badmouthed by another person in the room.  This individual had on his mind
provoking me (I suspect he is normally on 75 meters) but I did not
give...only asked him why he had so much anger? He repeatedly attacked me,
and called me all kinds of names...I didn't budge.  Suddenly everyone else in
the "room" was asking the guy what his problem was and to "chill out" or go
to another room (QSY!).

What's my point? It's what shows when I part my hair wrong....and it is that
some people are using the new mediums to put forth hate, perhaps they never
had a coax switch when they were novices, who knows. Just like the QRMers,
police, etc on the ham bands...here on there internet there are quite a few
malcontents....I guess it is a microcosm of society, huh?

The WRTC is an opportunity to gather contesters from all over the world and
pit them against each other on as close  to an even plateau as is possible.
 Time after time here on CQ-CONTEST we hear cries for new categories because
"they" are closer to Europe, or "they" are closer to Japan, or "they" have
too big a station.....

NOW, and back in WRTC #1 in WA, the inequities have been removed so we can
all witness some big guns go head to head.  There was a guy who was griping
about the WRTC being a closed party, I should hope so! I have no interest in
a competition where some of the players are unseasoned - would you like
watching a High School football team play a fabulous professional football
team ala Dan Marino and The Miami Dolphins (oops, I lost some of my
objectivity)....NO OF COURSE YOU WOULDN'T!  If a competition isn't close, it
isn't interesting at all....don't tell me you haven't stopped watching a
sports event when the score has gotten so lop sided it is obvious who will
win!

The WRTC will be a gathering of contest greats who, over time, have proven
themselves. You are not a contester just because you say you are....you
become one.

The misconception by many non-contesters is that contesters are just guys who
have big rigs and antennas and therefore of course they are loud and win,
hah. Anyone who has competed learns real fast how much they do not know....by
the time results are published a lot of guys are quickly humbled. 

Some of those guys don't ever contest again because they feel that someone to
make so many more points must have cheated, and some of them ask how the
other guys could have done so much better. 

The guys who wanna know are the contesters. They are intrigued by those
scores, and they realise it is not the hardware but the operators that make
the scores. Yeah, operators...

I have said it before and I will say it again, some hams are operators and
some are merely communicators. The WRTC will bring together some of the
worlds best operators, therefore it is something operators are intrigued by -
and communicators just don't get.

Congratulations to W6OAT and the WRTC organizers for promoting something I as
an operator think is just Grrrrrrrreat. The entrants are all winners, before
and after the Radiosport contest is over, because they are operators.

GO Team E Z 

Jim K1ZX  

bk1zx70sfl at aol.com

>From David L. Thompson" <thompson at mindspring.com  Fri Mar 15 04:09:08 1996
From: David L. Thompson" <thompson at mindspring.com (David L. Thompson)
Date: Thu, 14 Mar 1996 23:09:08 -0500
Subject: Heil Boomset and ICOM
Message-ID: <199603150400.XAA26500 at borg.mindspring.com>

Another way you can increase the SSB talk power of the Heil (BM-10, HM-10 et
al) with ICOM is to run the mic thru almost any of the DVK's.  Use the DVK
gain to increase the talk power..but be careful not to overdrive.

I had been using a Telex PRO 250 with an old ICOM IC-740 (my 10 meter and
WARC rig).  The mic itself sounds much better than the ICOM desk or hand
mics, but lacked enough audio to modulate the 740.  My old Nel-Tech DVK-100
was the answer especially after I got them to put a sturdy gain control in
(knob control, no more flimsy trimmer).   The DVK-100 also has a compressor
so you can turn the VOX gain back to 10 o'clock from 4 o'clock.
I just picked up a second BM-10 that was set up for ICOM.  I replaced the
PRO 250 and now have about twice the audio.  I can keep the processor off
and reduce the gain control.  Reports are of slightly better punch with the
Heil (HC-4 of course).   The Heil again does not fully modulate the IC-740
directly.

The Heil/DVK makes me more confident that I will be able to add to my 10
meter ARRL DX/CQ WW Plaques now with my almost boatanchor IC-740/Henry 2K
(ser # 156) combo. 

Dave K4JRB