[CQ-Contest] Contest bashers

[asciibaron at comcast.net]

 -------------- Original message ----------------------
From: "Mark Beckwith" <n5ot at n5ot.com>
> > The CQWWDX has just ended and already a bunch of good old boys are in a
> > round table bitching about the contesters.
> 
> I think we can safely say this didn't start after the contest ended :) They 
> were probably doing it for the whole weekend but we were too busy to notice 

i spent the day yesterday with my 5 yr old son after spending Saturday at K3DI in the contest.  we got on the bands for a few minutes just chasing the DX on 15, 20, and 40 meters.  we worked stations in all 4 corners of the map and it was exciting, i even worked a new one.  you can't buy the kind of smile my son had when he heard my callsign come out of the speaker from some distant location on the map.  he even gave our exchange to a few of them (apologizes to OH7M).

if it wasn't for the contest, the bands would not have had nearly this much DX on at one time and trying to show off ham radio at the bottom of the cycle would be like trying to show off the joys of watching paint dry.  seeing a square on the map in Logger32 and then clicking it and hearing a voice coming from Kenya or Antartica or Finland really shows off what radio is all about.

after dinner i went back down to the shack and tuned across 75m and heard the usual gripes about contests.  i guess the thought of showing off ham radio never comes to mind.  i guess they are too consumed with themselves and thus the lengthy stories about their medical procedures.  show would be hams that kind of stuff and see how cool they find it.  as my son would say "BORING!"  i'm a tad biased, but for me, contesting is the perfect time to show off the power and coolness factor of ham radio.  my mother-in-law was blown away when i had a ragchew with a JT after Thanksgiving dinner a few years back, i doubt hearing about a prostate exam would be as awe inspiring.

-Steve, WM3O