[CQ-Contest] Young people / the thrill is gone.

[Bill Turner]

On Thu, 21 Sep 2000 06:16:03 -0500, Jim George wrote:

>I agree with George.  I don't know anyone who cheats.  At the top levels,
>it is unheard of as far as I am concerned.
_________________________________________________________________

I think it must be rare, but I did witness cheating one time.  I was
monitoring VHF packet and I had it set to monitor incoming data as
well as outgoing.  A big gun contester was having trouble copying the
state, so I saw him do a sh/ham on packet and get it.  I was copying
him on HF at the same time, so I know that's exactly what happened.

Like I say, that was the only time I personally observed cheating.

73, Bill W7TI


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>From Igor Sokolov" <ua9cdc at dialup.mplik.ru  Thu Sep 21 17:17:27 2000
From: Igor Sokolov" <ua9cdc at dialup.mplik.ru (Igor Sokolov)
Date: Thu, 21 Sep 2000 22:17:27 +0600
Subject: [CQ-Contest] Power limit
References: <v02120d03b5ef9d11c1b9 at EIM-Mac-1.5tcp> <39CA0941.92F7614D at sk.sympatico.ca>
Message-ID: <007e01c023e7$73a3b520$4ee4fea9 at dialup.mplik.ru>



> Hmmmm -- strange -- I have been to some large multi-op stations in the EU
and in
> rural NA. I have witnessed  linears running at more than 1 kw dc and I
have seen
> their scores listed in the major magazines unquestioned.
> Another interesting area of discrepancy is the G stations that compete in
the
> high power class when the maximum legal limit in the UK is 400 watts. It
seems
> to me that ERP is a far better rating than dc output power. After all if
we are
> not worried about checking the linears then why should we worry about
checking
> the gain of the antenna - at least the antennas are up in the air where
they can
> be seen and verified by passers-by. By adopting a set of standard
multipliers
> for various antenna configuration the ERP can be simply calculated.

IMHO the power issue is not that important. The most important thing is
balancing the RX and TX capabilities. There is a natural limit to the power
you can run in the contest and that is your ability to hear those who hears
you. That limit may vary from location to location. I was operating from
Bering Straits for some time. I could copy EU on 80 meters 100% even though
EU stations were running 100 watts or less but I could not make them copy me
even when I was running 1.5 KW into decent antenna. While here back  home my
200-300W from the city lot seems to be quite enough to work almost anybody.
If I run 1.5KW from here I am afraid I will read "no ear'' remarks about
myself in the dx cluster. For me that will be a power limiting factor.

73,
Igor, UA9CDC


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>From Igor Sokolov" <ua9cdc at dialup.mplik.ru  Thu Sep 21 19:00:18 2000
From: Igor Sokolov" <ua9cdc at dialup.mplik.ru (Igor Sokolov)
Date: Fri, 22 Sep 2000 00:00:18 +0600
Subject: [CQ-Contest] Power limit
References: <v02120d03b5ef9d11c1b9 at EIM-Mac-1.5tcp> <39CA0941.92F7614D at sk.sympatico.ca> <007e01c023e7$73a3b520$4ee4fea9 at dialup.mplik.ru> <39CA40E0.1F9B0EA3 at sk.sympatico.ca>
Message-ID: <00c201c023f6$21d1d2e0$4ee4fea9 at dialup.mplik.ru>




> With all due respect Igor I suggest that more people will answer you if
you can
> shout (high power) and not just whisper (low power).

That is true Sylvan, but I will only be able to work those whom I hear. If
we take the situation to the extreme and think of the station with no RX at
all and a lot of TX that station would only create frustration and will
quickly become known as an "alligator" - big mouth but no ears.  I do not
want to be famous that way. I suspect many others will not too. That what
limits the output power to a reasonable level in a natural way.

> I would prefer to have my score compared
> to someone who whispers  at the same level that I do (i.e. same ERP) and
not to
> some one who shouts louder or softer (higher/lower ERP) than I do - this
way
> when I see the results I am more confident that I am  likely comparing my
skills
> and geographical advantage/disadvantage against some with a similar
technical
> setup.

Skill and geographical advantages are "apples and oranges". I would rather
compare them separately.  ERP is far from being universal criteria.
Geography is much more important. There is no level playing field  on HF
unless we are talking about WRTC or similar national contests. We have
several WRTC style contests here. That is were I do the comparisons. I see
all other contests as training  and fun and compete against my own pervious
result. If I beat more powerful local station in a process - I am double
winner. If I would not - I still no looser. But that applies only to local
stations(and even then more often then not there is no level playing
ground). I did operate from a lot of different locations and I know that I
can do much better even with a lot less power from geographically
advantageous location therefore I do not mind if KL7 or UA0K run a lot more
power then I do as long as they can hear those who call them. On the other
hand if I see someone who is widely known to be loud but deaf amongst the
winners, I do not count him but consider the real winner the station that
follows that guy in the listing. IMO really good operators are known from on
the air experience and not from the listings in the magazines.

73,
Igor, UA9CDC


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