[CQ-Contest] Recording

[Esa Korhonen]

Fellow contesters,

I agree with Kelly, but I'd like to remind that the practice of
recording a contest can benefit you also other ways than going back and
massage the log.

I often like to put on the headphones and listen to something while I'm
in the office. But...the CD that I put in is not Sting's, it is not
Madonna's, or anybody famous'. It is the CD that has my previous
contest(s) on it. I'm listening myself operating. Not that I'd like my
voice or my way of sending CW, but to LEARN. You can hear things you
didn't have no idea of in the contest. You hear all your mistakes. You
can recognize when the fatigue hit and you didn't realize it while
running. I have re-lived many past contests at least a half a dozen
times. If you have not tried it yet, well, hook up a PC or other type of
recorder for the next contest and try. It really is worth it.

In the long run, learning to know your weak points will certainly
benefit more than fixing a few QSO's in the log.

73,
Esa OH7WV

Oh, contesting and golf do have another difference too. I don't play
golf, but I think it is pretty much impossible to cheat when you are
playing in a big tournament. Contest...well, you know.


-----Original Message-----
From: cq-contest-bounces at contesting.com
[mailto:cq-contest-bounces at contesting.com] On Behalf Of Kelly Taylor
Sent: 22. heinäkuuta 2003 4:42
To: cq-contest at contesting.com
Subject: [CQ-Contest] Recording


One fellow asked why recording a contest is so bad.

I'm not sure it's "so bad," but I have a few reasons to dislike the
practice. I don't mean to disparage anybody, but...

To me, contesting is to Amateur Radio what the Pro Tour is to golf.
Unlike your average Sunday duffer, on the Tour there are no mulligans,
no practice shots. If you swing and miss, it's still a stroke. If you
hit the rough, tough. If it takes you three strokes to get out of a sand
trap, too bad, so sad. You can't take multiple tries to get it on the
fairway. At the end of the tournament, you don't get to go back and take
shots over again.

You do get to keep notes and to review your scorecard to ensure what you
turn in is actually what you shot.

Now, here's where the analogy diverges: on the Tour, there are no casual
players. Everybody plays to win. In contesting, there are many casual
players. Only a handful rise to the level of "contendas." Those who are
casual often say they're just playing against themselves or they're in
it for fun. So to those, it really shouldn't matter, IMHO, if they miss
the odd QSO. On the other hand, if you are a "contenda" a missed QSO can
mean the difference between winning and losing.

To me, that's life. Just like on the Tour, where missing one fairway can
mean the difference between winning and running up, you take your best
shot and live with the results.

Tape recording a contest for posterity is one thing: taping a contest
with the intent of going back to fix missed calls to gain an advantage
strikes me as wanting to go back on Monday and re-play the fifth hole at
Augusta. They won't let you do that on the Tour and there aren't a lot
of big-time contesters who think it's fair either.

Winning a contest, or winning a golf tournament, isn't about making QSOs
the fastest or hitting the longest drive. It's not about fixing mistakes
after it's over, it's about not making them in the first place or
digging yourself out of a hole during regulation time.

It's about being the best. About balancing accuracy and speed to have
the most clean QSOs once the adjudication process is over.

And I won't even mention that a tape recording is no guarantee. At the
end of the day, you can roll out all the tape you want showing that what
you heard is what you logged. But if you're not in his log, it doesn't
matter one whit what you heard.

Those are my thoughts. I welcome disagreement.

73, kelly
ve4xt