[CQ-Contest] Who says c'mon first, chicken or egg?

[Jerry Keller]

Richard... it seems there are lots of stories like yours about "elmering"
and such that happened "a few years ago".... it would be interesting to
compare them with similar stories from some of today's newcomers to
contesting.

Jerry K3MGT

----- Original Message -----
From: "Richard Thorne" <rthorne at tcac.net>
To: "Jim White" <k4oj at tampabay.rr.com>
Cc: <cq-contest at contesting.com>
Sent: Sunday, August 12, 2001 10:07 AM
Subject: Re: [CQ-Contest] Who says c'mon first, chicken or egg?


>
> Jim:
>
> I have to agree with you on this one.
>
> When I was in Raleigh in the late 80's I operated from an apartment with
wires.
> Then one day I received a call from Will, AA4NC, asking if I would be
interested
> in doing a multi for the 1988 Nov SS ssb.  Not sure exactly why Will
called but
> I think (correct me if I'm wrong Will) it was due to results(and the #'s
were
> not too high) and operating.
>
> Anyways I took him up on his offer to operate Sunday, if I remember
correctly.
> We ended up winning NC Multi and we were a division leader.  That was the
first
> contest certificate I ever received and really fueled the contest fire for
me.
>
> Thanks Will.
>
> Then it was off to start operating from Roger's (N4ZC) place for a few
years for
> CQWW ssb in the early 90's.  I liked his call so much I changed mine from
WB5M
> to N5ZC.
>
> I would be remiss if I did not mention Richard, K5NA.  He was my first
contest
> elmer.  He had myself, NA2N and Rus, K2UA over to his house in NY for the
> Armadillo run.  Richard's station was the control station for the
Armadillo run
> as the rover stations tried to hit all of the Texas counties.  That was in
the
> early 80's.
>
> It was fun to hook up with Richard again at his new station in Austin
during
> last months IARU.
>
> Jim White wrote:
>
> > In my contesting youth, it was understood that you had to make your
bones
> > operating from home and show that you could among other things keep your
> > buttocks in the chair for the whole contest.  After showing repeated
> > improvement in your activities (and beating out some of the other locals
in
> > a pile up or two leaving them wondering who the heck is that guy) THEN
you
> > might have been approached regarding operating from a multi-op.
> >
> > This invitation was one you earned by demonstrating you were indeed
> > interested in a demanding endeavor - contesting.  You were invited
because
> > it was felt you had the ability to add something to an operation...and
once
> > again you had to make your bones.
> >
> > You started out at the multis as low man on the totem pole - you were
the
> > guy on 10 meters at the bottom of the cycle or the one on what was
probably
> > a dead band...making sure that a freak opening did not happen and the
TEAM
> > you now were a part of didn't miss it...probably didn't happen but you
were
> > there to make sure it was not missed - while not running 150 an hour it
was
> > a contribution to the effort!  Now you could watch and learn...you were
like
> > a sponge absorbing everything you saw, be it software techniques like
> > hitting the plus key to both log and send tnx, or when a long path
opening
> > on 20 might occur...you were now in "the fast lane".
> >
> > The best way to get to the point where the ability to gain operating
> > expertise sufficient to earn you an invite was to join the local contest
> > club, by now you knew of their existence because you were familiar with
the
> > calls of most of its members and had seen them as high scorers in club
> > competitions...so, you took the next logical step and you joined the
contest
> > club where members understood why you would want to spend an entire
weekend
> > in front of the rig.
> >
> > Now you had the ability to pick the brains of sages at club meetings, to
> > "walk up the hill" and ask those questions which had troubled you - be
they
> > "how long should I call CQ before giving up on a band?"..."should I be
> > running or S&Ping?"..."how fast should I call CQ at?"...
> >
> > New guys are welcome in the contesting fraternity, contesters are a
> > possessed breed, with a major MAJOR focus on their operating - they have
> > made major commitments in terms of both time and money in order to
contest
> > effectively. Having more contesters in the fold means longevity of the
part
> > of the hobby that they enjoy most (plus another QSO in SS) - since you
might
> > be a newbie and have found the contest-reflector (they didn't have this
when
> > I was in your shoes) - welcome aboard!
> >
> > If you are a newbie contester in Florida and are looking to get into
> > contesting I know that the membership of
> >
> > The Florida Contest Group
> >
> > will welcome you with open arms...if want to find out more - check out
the
> > cool club website listed below!
> >
> > 73 (it is NOT 73s, it is already plural!)
> >
> > Jim, K4OJ
> > Tampa, FL
> > k4oj at tampabay.rr.com
> >
> > Proud member of the Florida Contest Group, check out our website at:
> >
> > http://www.qsl.net/fcg
> >
> > or
> >
> > http://www.fcg.club
> >
> > if your browser doesn't support the new domain names yet!
> >
> > --
> > CQ-Contest on WWW: http://lists.contesting.com/_cq-contest/
> > Administrative requests: cq-contest-REQUEST at contesting.com
>
> --
> 73,
> Richard Thorne
> Amarillo, TX
> Amateur Radio Station - N5ZC (Ex. KA2DSY, N2BHP, WB5M)
> Remote Control Planes - AMA # N5ZC
> Web Page: http://www.tcac.net/~rthorne/index.html
>
>
> --
> CQ-Contest on WWW: http://lists.contesting.com/_cq-contest/
> Administrative requests: cq-contest-REQUEST at contesting.com
>


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