[CQ-Contest] SO2R vs SO1R

[Dick Green]

W7TI wrote:

> I love contesting.  I don't like what it has become.

<snip...>

> Can't we have both?  Where am I wrong?

I don't see how anybody can be right or wrong in a discussion as subjective
as this one. I agree with K8CC that the thread isn't going anywhere and
should be stopped. But your comment about not liking what contesting has
become intrigues me. Some of the old hands I speak with feel the same way.
But they don't think SO2R is the culprit. They think that packet and
multi/multi are the culprits.

They say that packet spotting makes it much more difficult to suck up the
multipliers by doing pure S&P, and really difficult if you're low power.
This is because as soon as a rare or semi-rare one gets spotted, a huge
pileup begins. Either the DX runs for the hills or the pileup gets so big so
fast that the ops who tune for their mults don't have a chance. On esoteric
grounds, they say that packet spotting dilutes development of the most
important skills of contesting, DXing and general radio operation:
tuning-and-listening and the study of propagation patterns.

The beef with multi/multis is that they take up so much spectrum with their
CQ machines on every band that there's no chance for single-ops with low
power or modest stations to hold a frequency. They also feed the packet spot
machine. Ironically, there are a handful of huge US M/M stations that are so
powerful that it makes no sense at all for other M/M stations to compete
with them.

Packet and M/M have definitely had a big impact on contesting, but the other
side of the coin is that many ops enjoy packet and/or M/M operation. It
seems likely that a lot of them would choose not to participate if they
couldn't have fun the way they want to. Although some ops choose these
categories because they don't feel they can develop the skills required to
compete in other categorues, in many cases it's a matter of having family
obligations that preclude dedicating a weekend to an all-out unassisted
single-op effort. In other cases it's simply a matter of enjoying the team
effort and the company of others.

Would we want to outlaw packet and M/M because they are "ruining" contesting
for the purists? I don't think we would like the result any better, because
participation would probably drop like a rock. In all of these discussions
about changing rules, the litmus tests ought to be whether 1) participation
will be maintained or increased, and 2) whether the amount of fun will be
maintained or increased. Any rule changes that lead to a decrease in
participation or fun should be avoided.

As a positive suggestion, it seems to me that one way to improve the M/M
situation is to think about rule changes that might encourage more
participation in the multi-single category (I'm thinking of the pure form,
that doesn't allow simultaneous transmission from a "mult" radio.) This
category feeds the desires to work as a team and not necessarily devote an
entire weekend to the contest, while at the same time helping to relieve
band congestion.

I don't have any good suggestions for improving the packet situation, except
that it might be fun to designate one major contest per year as
"packet-free".

73, Dick WC1M


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