[CQ-Contest] Complaining !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Roy D Lincoln]

Folks,
  Its amusing to the Nth degree to observe in modern times how
much whining and complaining is going on, everywhere. 

Who would have ever thought that hams would have eventually
appeared that would consider antennas to be ugly and choose
to "hide" them? Who would have thought that hams would someday
subject their right to antennas to neighborhood esthetics and then
whine for some higher authority to come bail them out?

I suppose my call is considered a waste of time as it has 6 
characters, isn't a vanity call and doesn't reflect the "license class".

QRP'ers have no monopoly on ego. Look around, theres plenty in 
evidence right here on this list. 

Perhaps qrp'ers who sign /qrp are hopeing to be logged as such in 
hopes of eventually receiving a qsl card noting that, for an award,
as someone already pointed out. It doesn't matter to me one way
or the other. 

I will say that if I need a qsl and a contest station ignores my card
and money twice, I won't work him anymore. Contests serve no
purpose if a confirmation can't result if needed. Most contesters
do qsl ! I've only encountered a few who won't. 

Some of you are rabid contesters. You'll do anything or embrace
anything to make your scores higher. Personally I think some of you
have missed the boat. The end never justifies the means if you have
to sell out every principle and value to do it. Contests can be won 
without selling out reason, rhyme and courtesy. Some of you won't
even acknowledge receipt of the other ops exchange. Apparently
you're saving precious time in not doing so. But you're leaving the 
other op to wonder if you received the exchange and logged it. And
did you record the call accurately? How do I know that? You never 
sent my call at all. ( Obviously I've placed myself in the other guys
position that some of you worked ). How about those who insist on 
sending at buzz saw speeds, it sounds like you're ripping 1" strips. I
have been a cw op for over 40 years. I had to stop in CQWWDX-
CW and study some calls intently to decide if they were sending 4 
or 5 dits to one character. Do I need to remind you that if you don't
gear your speed and techniques more towards the average op, then
you may as well just insist on making qso's with other rabid ops. That
will get you plenty of points. Right! At the tailend of the contest, when
qso's have slowed to a crawl, did it really matter that you worked them
up front so quickly? After all, if you had done it a little more
attentively,
wouldn't there still have been plenty of time for more moderation thru
out the time? I think so. However, what do I know? I'm just a casual
contester. I don't care if I win or lose! I just like to participate. 
Speaking of participation, I made over 1,000 qso's in the QCWW
phone/cw weekends. and 455 qso's in the ARRL 160. However, I
was unable to decipher a call or two with known accuracy. Anyone
work or copy CO5RC or was it CM6RC? I'm still not 100% sure. 
I heard both being sent at different times. 

I've only scratched the surface. Theres much more to complain about.
Why don't we take some of these complaints and actually do something
about them? Wouldn't we all benefit if action led to elimination of some
practices? Can you imagine in ARRL 160, I had to log a 559 report
that I received? Perish the thought, it required an extra key stroke. 

73 de Roy Lincoln WA4DOU

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