[CQ-Contest] The Next BIG Step in contesting

[K0HB]

Bill W6WRT,  certified OF said:  

> IMHO,  packet is not unfair, it is just undesirable.  We are getting
> farther  away from being radio operators and closer to being
> technogeeks.   Nothing wrong with new technology, but the direction
> we're moving has less  and less to do with transmitting and receiving
> radio signals by a human  operator.

Tom  Taormina, K5RC replied:
 
> Pine away, Bill. We wouldn't be having this conversation if it weren't
for  
> technogeeks. Also, I doubt if there would even be any contesting if we
still  
> used Valiant's, HQ180's and bugs. Us OF's would be playing pinochle 
instead.


I'm with the "OF" on this one.  One of my other favorite hobbies is deer
hunting, and there are a lot of similarities.

Both have hardware tools (rifles/radios, antennas/scopes).  They keep
getting better all the time.

Both have learned skills and player-attributes (stealthy recon/knowing
where to search, good eyes/good ears).  The good players continuously work
on improving their human skill set.

Both have a quarry (30-point buck/rare multiplier).  May they grow and
prosper!

Now I'm happy that the techno geeks keep improving tools available (rifles,
receivers, scopes, and antennas that catch the quarry).  But let's leave
>>finding<< the quarry as a function of the human skills and attributes. 

Just as I wouldn't want a fellow deer hunter to send me a message saying "I
just shot a nice buck over by that big pine tree.  Do you want to come and
shoot him too?", I don't find any skill or challenge in making a Q that
you've spoon fed me (and every other hunter) over the cluster.

73, de Hans, K0HB
aka Don Quixote