[CQ-Contest] Rules, debates, and other annual occurances

[K0HB]

> [Original Message]
> From: Bob Naumann - N5NJ <n5nj at gte.net>

> Packet has levelled the playing field for all multi-ops in this respect.

Hey, I know I'm like Don Quixote, tilting at a windmill, but humor an old
"purist" coot just once more.

What is this business about leveling the playing field?  

Everything I do in the area of contesting *tools* is aimed at TILTING the
playing field to my advantage.  I tilt it by building the best antennas I
can; I tilt it by acquiring the most capable equipment that I can afford; I
tilt it by increasing my skills; etc.  On contest day when I stick my head
inside the bands I want those *tools* to give me more *information* than
any other player in the contest.  

Right here someone pops in and says "Well, yeah Hans, and the cluster is a
tool also."

Well, in my mind the cluster is NOT a tool, it is *information* (that
somebody else gathered for you).  

If we all are handed the same *information*, then what's the point of the
contest?   

Some quiet evening this winter, read the short story "Harrison Bergeron" by
Kurt Vonnegut.  If you like level playing fields, you'll love the character
Diana Moon Glompers in the story.

73, de Hans, K0HB