[CQ-Contest] succeeding on a budget/W4AN

[Frank Norton KB8XU]

W4AN makes a wonderful point!  I think very often, why am I paying to read 
about all the HUGE DOLLAR stations?  Yes I would love to have one and if I 
did I would love to have an article written about how wonderful my new 
station is.  However, is that what we are paying to read about?

I subscribed to find information about past and future contests, to find 
out how to improve my performance in those contests, and finally to learn 
as much as possible about all the facets of contesting....new equipment 
reviews, SO2R setups, new digital modes and their contests, and of course 
how to make the most out of what the majority of us can do with what we 
have to make things work better or more efficiently.  By majority I refer 
to everyone with two towers or less, especially the dipole in the attic 
crowd.  The last group can perhaps teach us the most!  If someone has the 
grit to contest under those conditions--they must know a lot of tricks to 
contact the ones that often get away.

I did not subscribe to read primarily about "lives of the rich and 
famous".  Please no boos or hisses, I love to hear the big multi-multi's 
and talk with the "big guns", and of course the ultimate patronizing 
remark--->my best ham buddy is an op on one of those famous multi-multi 
stations. However these stations should not be the focus of article after 
article in "THE"CONTESTING magazine.  A focused piece on new improvements 
and contributions to the "knowledge base" of contesting would be great, but 
not a "WOW look at this" picture festival.  The picture festivals do 2 
types of damage--one, they take up lots of expensive budget (color pix are 
tough and expensive to publish) and two, they are not often very 
educational or even entertaining (how many pictures of multiple towers with 
several huge antennas do you want to see?).  What do you learn from each of 
these pieces?  I was taught that unless I learn at least 3 new things from 
each article in a journal type magazine it is a waste of my time and money 
to continue my subscription.

This money from the publishing budget could provide a number of pages of 
articles about other subjects.  I will not pretend to know what everyone 
else is interested in, but certainly reviews about equipment and 
accessories, perhaps used alternatives to new multi-thousand dollar rigs 
etc., new and old computer programs involved in contesting, newbie articles 
by the score etc.--add your own ideas here.

Here is the end...yes, I really like to look....but I paid to learn, and 
have some fun too when I subscribed.

73 to all de KB8XU Frank


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