[CQ-Contest] Dumbing down contesting

[Paul D. Schrader]

Bob,

I remember the good ole days when you had to find and zero beat, make
contact without tailending (it was illegal-but ARRL didn't enforce it) and
then copy and write down (legibly) call signs and reports.  (And some
contests were two weekends in length!)

And you did your own duping.

And you didn't have XMatch antenna tuners (or Alpha amplifiers, computers,
packet, Tailtwister rotators, or programmable keyers).

I did pretty good back then (as W4BCV) from Kentucky.

I am also absolutely convinced that manual logging is faster than computer
logging when you have the system developed and a few contests of practice.


Could the present contesters take it?  I suspect the top ones probably
would still be the top ones.

And the others would still be there.  Because it is not the old or new
technology that makes for great contesting, but the thrill of the
competitive involvement and the great fraternal environment.  It is the
greatest game on earth, with a great bunch of people.

Ah yes.  I await the days when we wake up in the morning to the smell of
coffee that the computer made for us,  and we hear  "Congrats OM.  This
past weekend (while you were at Dayton) we successfully competed in the XYZ
digital CW galactic 30 minute contest, scoring in the top 1000 entrants.
We made contacts at the rate of 5,333 per minute.  We had one complaint of
chirp and two for key clicks.  An analysis says if you spend $ 333,442.67
(inflation is always with us) more on equipment, and provide me 35.2 more
paid hours of training and database acquisition, then we can probably move
to the top 900 club.

1)  I have readied the necessary checks and forms for your approval.
Please authorize and I will send them.

2)  I have printed out your new certificate from the LRRA (Left the Radio
Relay league of America).  I suggest a plain black frame to match your others.

3)  Are there any other instructions?"

73 all

Paul  N4XM
Inventor of the XMatch Antenna Tuner
http://c-space.net/xmatch/

Life Member of ARRL

TOP TEN
Four years in a row -- 1964, 1965, 1966, 1967
96 hour ARRL DX Phone Contest
 From Kentucky--as W4BCV


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