[CQ-Contest] ham radio is dead?

[PaulKB8N@aol.com]

In a message dated 2/17/2005 5:57:09 PM Central Standard Time, W0uo at cs.com  
writes:

thought  that there must be a purpose in order for us to take the time to  
communicate.  Shooting the bull, exchanging reports, rigs, weather, etc  can get 
old after awhile.  For most of us this amounts to contesting and  DXing or 
working for some other kind of award, which often places us in  competition with 
others.  Wouldn't it be nice to have an activity that  doesn't place us in 
such direct competition?



I never feel like I'm competing with anyone but myself, and I think  many of 
the members of the contesting community feel the same.  Sure, it  feels good 
to break a pileup or find yourself in a top ten box, but that is  merely a 
reflection of being your best, not "beating" someone else.
 
To put it another way, I have never known a contester to get angry at the  
other guy for being beaten out for a Q, a mult, or even a score.  Virtually  all 
the good contesters I know beat themselves up for not doing better, and then  
work the tails off to fix the problem, improve their operating, enhance their 
 station and antennas.  We hold the best operators in awe, not in  contempt.  
This desire to improve helps the hobby, contesting and ham  radio will not be 
dead until ops stop trying to win.
 
73, Paul, K5AF
 
 
 
Paul  Schaffenberger
210-493-6265
210-213-5914(M)