[CQ-Contest] Where are the JA's

[K3BU at aol.com]

In a message dated 6/22/04 8:08:00 PM Eastern Daylight Time, 
g4buo at compuserve.com writes:
>>It seems to me that Japanese hams still like to work 'DX' but are not 
turned on by contesting. Perhaps contesting isn't heavily promoted in Japan.

Dave G4BUO<<

Contesting flourishes where there are clusters of contesters that keep the 
fire going. The best examples are YCCC, FRC, PVRC, MRCC, KCDXC etc. Look at the 
awakening that K4OJ did with sleepy FL crowd. It helps to meet, exchange lies, 
assist each other with station setup, keep the fire going and socialize with 
like minded fellows. 

Limitations in antenna building and interference problems sure do not help, 
Internet and cell phones take away some magic from radio waves, but contesting 
still has its magic, mainly because each contest is a new competition, unlike 
chasing awards or other long term challenges. If I was "just" DXer, I would be 
a "dead" ham by now (been there, done it few times over), but contesting 
still keeps me going, there is still so much to explore, improve, records to beat 
or just have plain fun working old buddies and hand out points.

What is also needed is the promotion and publicity in ham magazines and not 
relegating us to the back pages of Internet listings. Recent ARRL policy is 
shortsighted, seeing us only as a small percentage of ham population, rather than 
buying power equal to 100s of "shack on the belt hams". Would anyone 
participate in the Olympics if they were kept secret, with results and records on some 
obscure web site? 

Contesting is the ultimate pinnacle of ham radio activities, it should be 
promoted by our media, clubs should provide welcome home for those interested in 
contesting, and each of us should be beaming with enthusiasm when promoting 
contesting. Field Day is a good opportunity to do that. Let's get few more souls 
excited about contesting. 

Yuri, K3BU.us
www.computeradio.us home of "Dream Radio One"