[CQ-Contest] The thread that will not die

[Art Boyars]

W7GG tries again:

"if u think ss is so much fun try the naqp ....
it fixes all the things that are annoying in the ss!

"for example:  its 12 hours shorter, u can work stations agn on each band, the xhange is shorter, and mults count agn on each band ....  etc

"not to detract from the ss format or heritage but it cud be made better if the sponsor saw fit .... "

I vote NO!  I like it the way it is (but I am glad that it is no longer two weekends).  There are NAQPs and other tests for people who don't like the challenge of grinding it out. If you go to the band-QSOs and band-mults, it'll just make it less fun for the little guys (like me).  And as for the exchange being "too long" -- gee whiz!  Let there be at least one contest where we have to prove that we can communicate.  With SCP and automated computer logging the WW DX tests hardly require copying ANY info; everybody is busy before the test making sure that the dot-cty files have the right zone for every ham in the world.

I wish this idea for "fixing" SS would go away forever.  But that's an unrealistic hope.  So, instead, I'll hope for enough patience to politely disagree every time somebody pushes its head above the ground.

Now I'll go back to trying to figure out how to improve my skills and strategy for SS next year.

(And BTW, I see that most people think that current SO2R practice -- including "dueling CQs" -- is acceptable.  I was QRT from about 1981 to 2000, and I missed those developments.  I'll not raise the issue again.)

73, Art K3KU (that little signal you could not quite copy in SS SSB)