[CQ-Contest] NAQP CW "West Coast Battle Cry"

[Michael Tope]

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "N7MAL" <N7MAL at CITLINK.NET>
To: "Ken Widelitz" <widelitz at gte.net>; "Craig Cook" <craig.n7or at gmail.com>
Cc: <cq-contest at contesting.com>
Sent: Sunday, January 15, 2006 9:32 PM
Subject: Re: [CQ-Contest] NAQP CW "West Coast Battle Cry"


Whoa, slow down Ken. I have several good friends of mine who are considered 
the 'crème de la crème of the contesting community. I have watched them 
operate, worked them, and in several cases had long one-on-one conversations 
with them about contesting. I can guarantee you any one of them with a 
'coat-hanger' could beat any 'average' contester at any big-gun station. 
There is a heck of a lot more to being a good/successful contester than just 
sitting your butt in a big-gun station.
A big-gun multi-multi, good station, is just the icing on the cake, you need 
the cake first. Every premier contester started out as a little pistol and 
learned how to contest. They learned the contesting basics and the secrets 
of successful contesting.

I am actually surprised a contester with your contesting credentials would 
make such a silly statement.


At the risk of getting into a "silly" argument, a good example of
this principle is illustrated when N5TJ operates the CW Sprint
from from his home QTH with an attic dipole. Jeff is probably
the best or one of the best contesters who ever picked up a
bencher paddle. If memory serves Jeff will make something like
250 QSO when operating with this kind of handicap. This is a
decent "average" contester score that you would expect from
an "average" contester with a decent station (KW amp, tribander,
and wires). If Jeff switched places with the average operator, he
would make somewhere between 350 and 400 QSOs and the
"average" operator would probably make something on the
order of 100 to 150 QSOs. This is the Sprint, however, which
places a premium on operator skill. Other contests place more
of a premium on station capability. I wouldn't expect the
differential to be so high in the CQ 160 contest where
QTH/antennas make more of a difference. In that case, the
"average" contester with a good quiet location and a good TX
antenna will  probably leave N5TJ with his attic dipole in the
dust. Jeff would still wring out every last possible QSO point,
but there are some hardware handicaps that even operating
skill won't overcome.

73 de Mike W4EF........................................................