[CQ-Contest] Tonight Show Video

[Jim Idelson]

These guys did an awesome job!

I recorded the whole show digitally, and I will plan to have a fun, edited 
version on my laptop in Dayton.

Want a preview on the web? Try http://www.k1ir.com/TonightShow.htm

73,

Jim Idelson K1IR
email    k1ir at k1ir.com
web    http://www.k1ir.com

---------- Forwarded Message ----------

FROM: "Rich Gelber" <k2wr at njdxa.org>
TO:   "YCCC Reflector" <yccc at yccc.org>
DATE: Sat, 14 May 2005 16:39:13 -0400

RE:   Re: [YCCC] CW FOREVER!

A few lessons learned from the Tonight Show demonstration:
(with apologies since all of this, except the actual result, was obviously set 
up)

1. Someone described the W.U. telegraphers' outfits as a nice touch.  I'll go 
much further!  It was brilliant.  TV is a visual medium and the costumes are 
what will help the general public to remember this stunt, to the extent that 
they do.

2. Everybody has a different agenda.  For Jay Leno, the demonstration was about 
new technology versus old technology.  For Chip, it was important to plug ham 
radio.  It wasn't necessary for the purposes of the message speed demo even to 
mention ham radio.  The theme was telegraphy, not radio.  However, Chip is a 
marketing guy, and he made sure to mention ham radio, despite the dubious 
relevance.  Remember, no explanation was given for the keying method, radios 
used, frequencies, etc.  The Tonight Show didn't care about any of that.  Chip 
is to be commended, even more than for winning the test, for making sure that 
he got the ham radio plug in there.

3. Time is the great enemy of anybody with an idea about something to put on TV 
(except for the advertisers).   When Chip said he'd been at this for "40 years 
in ham radio", Jay Leno could have replied "Wait a minute! How old are you?"  
The discussion that might have ensued from that could have helped ham radio 
more than any dozen SAREX QSO's with schools (which I'm not putting down in any 
way).  But, as I said, time is the great enemy.

4. Someone said that it was somewhat remarkable to pull this off using 
speakers.  That's true, but we don't really know whether one or the other 
operators had an earbud plugged in.  That would never have been explained, 
since it would not really have been relevant to the central theme.

5. Some kid somewhere is thinking about the larger implications of this 
demonstration.  They're not all like the entertainment and clothes obsessed 
future rocket scientists I overhear at the mall.  Even without the discussion I 
suggested above about Chip's presumed age when he started, anybody could figure 
it out.  Then the mythical kid who has better things to do than hang out at the 
mall might even figure out that the skill he saw demonstrated could be learned 
with practice and determination.  But that's a discussion for another show 
which I don't expect to see... but I've been wrong before.

Someone asked about tapes.  W2MLS taped it for me since I didn't expect to be 
able to watch it live (although I wound up being able to anyway).  Mike will 
probably have the tape with him in Dayton.  See me in the NJDXA suite.

Rich K2WR/6 in NoCal for a few days
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