Little fish.....

[Brent Smith]

Hmmmmm ... First "big guns" tell us small fry that we need to 
participate for the sheer enjoyment of making a bunch of QSO's not 
simply for score (... and not because we are out to win, which we 
never can with modest equipment and limited time).  Then you tell us 
we should not make zero point QSO's (even if it's a multiplier), even 
if that's what we enjoy (and we need the mult) because it contributes 
nothing to the score.  You need to get your story straight.  Which is 
it?  Enjoyment or score?  And how much longer does it take to say 
"DX only" than to say "5905"?  It's just a matter of accomodating 
(or putting down) the other fellow.

                             - - - Brent - - - KO4PY - - - 


Date sent:      Mon, 28 Oct 1996 09:02:01 -0800
From:           ke5fi at wt.net (KE5FI)
Send reply to:  ke5fi at wt.net (KE5FI)
To:             cq-contest at tgv.com
Subject:        Re: Little fish.....

Jerry Fray wrote:
> --      The ONLY thing that truly bothered me during the contest were
> stations calling CQ Contest and when I went back to them replied (or
> changed their CQ) "sorry DX only".....you KNOW who you are guys! Seems
> like the purpose of the contest was to make contacts NOT just DX
> contacts.....or am I missing something here????

You missed something, Jerry!  Contacts in the same country count zero 
points.  (I was one of the ones...)

Chuck, KE5FI
(Single band 10 operating K5XI)


>From jdcolson at aplcomm.jhuapl.edu (Jack D.Colson)  Mon Oct 28 16:24:09 1996
From: jdcolson at aplcomm.jhuapl.edu (Jack D.Colson) (Jack D.Colson)
Date: Mon, 28 Oct 1996 11:24:09 -0500
Subject: Correct e-mail adr for N6TR
Message-ID: <9610281624.AA08275 at aplcomm.jhuapl.edu>

According to lists I have seen N6TR's address is shown to be:
"tree at micro.com".  I have tried this twice in the last two days only to
have both messages returned.

Can someone supply a better address?

73 and tks, W3TMZ

>From becker at SPRINTMAIL.COM (Tony and Celia Becker)  Mon Oct 28 16:34:55 1996
From: becker at SPRINTMAIL.COM (Tony and Celia Becker) (Tony and Celia Becker)
Date: Mon, 28 Oct 1996 09:34:55 -0700
Subject: Summary: How to operate CW SS in M/S and W6BIP
Message-ID: <2.2.16.19961028163455.3d371bfc at pop.a001.sprintmail.com>

Hi All!

Last week I posted a message asking for advice on this subject, and received several informative replies.  Since none of the respondents has asked me to keep their advice private, I have prepared a summary.  If you are interested, e-mail me and I bounce a copy back via e-mail privately.

CU in CW SS from W6BIP with N1EE M/S.  Bip is not in good health just now so he will probably only be operating for a short time.  

Bips tiny San Francisco back yard and shack are really too small for an effective mult. radio and antenna set without major league stubs, filters, and crowding.  Net-net Scott and I will probably be swapping ops with his existing station for the full 24 hours, so lets not hear any whining about missing the SF mult. for a sweep.  :)

73

AE0M, Tony Becker - becker at sprintmail.com - Silicon Valley, U.S.A.

>From donovanf at sgate.com (Frank Donovan)  Mon Oct 28 16:34:58 1996
From: donovanf at sgate.com (Frank Donovan) (Frank Donovan)
Date: Mon, 28 Oct 1996 11:34:58 -0500 (EST)
Subject: Lil Gun Fret Not (Long)
Message-ID: <Pine.OSF.3.95.961028112109.12557A-100000 at jekyll.sgate.com>

Its true!  Just about every highly competitive contester I'm aware of
today started out small!  In my case, I was 12 years old living in the
city in 1959 (fortunately my family had an oversized lot for that area --
80 x 80 feet).  I used a Hallicrafters S-38D receiver, an Ameco AC-1
transmitter and a 40 foot wire strung up the side of our three family
house (similar to Archie Bunker's house!).  I could not immediately
upgrade to a superstation!  I had a tremendous amount to learn and I had
to build a life that would support my future!   K1JYN (now K6LL) and I
were college buddies, and we spent more than a little time thinking about 
how we might become competitive conters in after college!  I bought my
first SSB equipment six years later and installed my first tribander 11
years later in a tree with W3GN's help.  

Like any sport, contesters start at the bottom rung and work their way up
the ladder with lots of hard workand dedication.  It ain't easy (thats why
the competitors keep competing), but if it were easy I would have given up
years ago.

73!
Frank
W3LPL
donovanf at sgate.com

K1ZX wrote:

> Amazing, you can't beat out N2RM and W3LPL, welcome to a very large club,
> Bob...a lot of your fellow lil guns are right here on this reflector.
> 
> If you were to do a survey of all the big guns in the top ten boxes you would
> see that the really good operators ALL started out as station-challenged
> ops...the thing is they didn't let that stop them from doing the best they
> could with what they had.  Most of them were kids with paper routes buying
> Heathkits...begging their parents to let them put up a short tower with of
> all things...a rotary triband beam!


>From george at epix.net (George C. Cook)  Mon Oct 28 16:47:48 1996
From: george at epix.net (George C. Cook) (George C. Cook)
Date: Mon, 28 Oct 1996 11:47:48 -0500 (EST)
Subject: Little Pistol -> Big Gun
Message-ID: <1.5.4.16.19961029114741.2cbfab0e at epix.net>

This is in response to the fellow complaining about his 100 watts /
tribander / Dipole situation.

Wow what a great set up!  Three years ago when I got into this sport (PA QSO
party) I could only
dream of having a great set up like that.  And I bet you have a
transistorized rig too.  How easy it
must be to change bands with out having to retune your finals each time.
What I wouldn't give for 
something like that.

So you want to jump up and wrestle with the big guns eh?  Me too!  I want to
turn to the biggest
of the big guys and on an equal footing say "Nice Score" knowing full well
that I had edged them out.
I do not think that I will get there complaining about my status though I
think I will have to work at it.

You need to set goals that are lofty but attainable at your present
position.  My first DX contest I only
wanted to contact 100 countries that weekend made it just exactly!!!  It was
a blast and we had lots of fun
doing it!  This past contest I wanted to make my first Million points and I
did well beyond that.  And though tired
I am just exhilerated.

So how to get there?  Well here is part of my battle plan:

1 Invest as much $$$ as I would if I golfed in the summer and Skiied in the
winter I figure about $3000/year and I get
to enjoy it all the time.

2 As above with time working on improving what I have.

3 Read every message on the reflector and use what you can.

4  Belong and be ACTIVE in your local contest/DX club.  I may not be the
biggest gun YET but the kudos that
I get from people like K3WW, KY3N, W3BGN and all the rest of the FRC guys is
worth as much to me as being in
the "box"

5 Work at some of the Multi Multis and gain experience.  Work all the little
contests and maybe you  can win in
your division.  Nothing is better than getting a plaque from your local
state QSO party for the old ego.

6 Move.  Yupp you may have to give up the nice house in the burbs and live
at the end of tobacco road like I do.
It's a pain in the rump all winter long and I commute twice as far to work.
But what price fame?

7 Develop a winning attitude!  Remember Winners Never Quit and Quitters
Never Win!

8 And most of all when it stops being fun stop doing it and go on to
something else no one says you have
to be a radio contester.  But if that is what you want then you may have to
go to great lengths to become great.

*********************************************
*George Cook.....AA3JU.....AKA "The Ratman" *
*george at epix.net.....AA3JU@W3PYF            *
*http://www.epix.net/~george                *
*                                           *
*Proudly Frankford Radio Club.........      *
*.......Proficiency Through Competiton.     *
*"Not just words but a way of life"         *
*********************************************


>From jdcolson at aplcomm.jhuapl.edu (Jack D.Colson)  Mon Oct 28 16:56:45 1996
From: jdcolson at aplcomm.jhuapl.edu (Jack D.Colson) (Jack D.Colson)
Date: Mon, 28 Oct 1996 11:56:45 -0500
Subject: Thanks for input on N6TR's e-mail
Message-ID: <9610281656.AA11744 at aplcomm.jhuapl.edu>

Thanks to all that are responding!

>From ke5fi at wt.net (KE5FI)  Mon Oct 28 19:25:57 1996
From: ke5fi at wt.net (KE5FI) (KE5FI)
Date: Mon, 28 Oct 1996 11:25:57 -0800
Subject: Little fish.....
References: <9610281618.AA16571 at sparc26.tx.ncsu.edu>
Message-ID: <327508C5.3D6F at wt.net>

Ok, I got a lot of flack about the zero point QSOs...

Trust me, I had LOTS of zero pointers in my log.  Anyone who wanted the 
mult got in there...

Chuck, KE5FI
(Operating K5XI single band 10 Meters)