[CQ-Contest] Trying to make sense out of... [was: Annoying trend]

[Ev Tupis]

----- Original Message ----

Then why not state in the rules: 

Check (the last two digits made up at random)

It seems pretty straightforward what the check is. I cannot see why some people are so resistant to sending the correct thing.
---------------------------

John,
I asked the same question, but within the context of Cabrillo files ("why must I pack RST=599 when i didn't TX or RX an RST?").  The answer is just as annoying, but it is the answer none-the-less:

As a hobby, we are full of folks who say, "Let's go do something cool, and pick up the pieces later -- promise."  We then create all sorts of "adapters" to connect togther something that works, technically (but often misses the mark aesthetically or philosophically).  Once it is made to work, there seems to be little interest in going back to tidy things up again.

Look at the typical ham shack as proof. :)

Sadly, and as a defense mechanism, a culture of name-calling those that question the untidiness emerges.  They are called:
* "armchair lawyers"
* "monday morning quarterbacks"

or their opinions are trivialized because their callsign hasn't appeared in:
* "the mwdink reports"
* the log of some uber-station

Despite being an e-mail list whose purpose includes thread-oriented text-based discussion, some subscribers then complain about the amount of e-mail they receive on topics such as this -- suggesting instead that time should be spent on-the-air rather than at the computer.  This argument always makes me scratch my head in wonder.

We can make whatever sense we want to of all of this, but hopefully the above addressed the underlying factors at play.

Ev, W2EV


 
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