[CQ-Contest] Lets not go back to Spark

[john battin]

I have been reading cq contest for several years and up to now have resisted
adding to already worn and beaten subjects....but....let me add my two cents
in.
   Technology is on the march and we either have to go with it or our hobby
will become another dinosaur. Compared to my crystal controlled rig and a
straight key, everything we do now in a contest is cheating. Computer
generated cw---computer generated logs---Internet spotting---two radios and
two bands at a time---a band map ---What happened to operating skill ???
I used to take pride that I could keep a dupe sheet better than most by
training  to send with one hand and write at the same time with the other.
Now these skills are useless.
     Thank  god they have been replaced by challenges much more
interesting. Does anyone think we would have all these smart guys contesting
if a contest was to just hand copy the same two thousand calls as last year?
No Way. The thing that keeps us going is trying to eke out that little
advantage.  Where do I put the monitor?? Why does my mp lock up the logging
program???  Is his software better than mine??
    These are the things that keep most of us going. If someone can automate
a station to win a contest while he is sunning himself on the beach, great.
The next year he had better do it better or someone else will.
If I had my way there would be no restrictions on packet spotting, and the
likes. If it is allowed by your license, then you should be able to do it. I
am not talking about using data processing to claim contacts not really
made. I am talking about this trash about replacing operating skill. I would
like to see the best cw operator in world out of the sixties sit at my
station and figure out how to turn it on and get all the tsr's set right.
Yes these are trade-offs, but what we have traded is small compared to
sophistication that has been achieved.
John  K9DX




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