[CQ-Contest] Packet has ruined Ham Radio

[asciibaron at comcast.net]

does luck qualify as an art?  the arguement could be made that understanding the characteristics of the received signal, the nature of the audio, and the beam direction are an art, but in my opinion, it seems being a successful DX'er has more to do with sitting in the chair and spinning the BFK (big freakin knob) and understanding propagation paths than it does being lucky and beating the crowd to the DX station.  

how many times have you called CQ and had a new one answer you?  it probably happens more when you are starting out as a DX'er than it does once you have 250+.   before packet i'm sure you knew that DXpedition was going to be active from the 11th to the 21st and with a little understanding of propagation knew when to check the "suggested" frequencies with the beam at the correct heading.  you fish where the fish are...

before packet, to log the hard to get ones, you had to beat the pileup.  so now, you have to not only beat the pileup to the DX station, you have to get there before it goes out all over the packet network.  this is really only a problem for those that need the rare ones - when was the last time a seasoned DX'er looked twice at a packet spot for a DL6 on 20m? 

there have been plenty of times i have just happened to find a DX station not in the "DX window" calling CQ after tuning up.  i worked them and then listened for a few qso's before spotting them if someone hadn't already done so.  there are still plenty of DX stations that don't get spotted right away, if at all. 

maybe packet has ruined ham radio for you, but i enjoy being able to see what the band conditions are like by simply opening my logging software and seeing who has spotted who.  i'm a visual learner and dx spots are automatically populated on a map, and with filtering, the spots shown are those originating in the Mid Atlantic region.  i can see where the paths are open and decide if i want to go fishing or go play with trains.

packet has enhanced ham radio for me.

-Steve, WM3O