[CQ-Contest] What's the Station?

[Ward Silver]

> There's this notion of "station equipment"

What counts is the antennas - the interface between signals in free space 
and signals contained within processing or generating equipment.  Technology 
will continually push the practical boundary of the analog/digital divide 
closer to the antenna, but simply can't replace the antenna for radio-based 
communication.  I foresee the day when antennas are connected to a black box 
at their feedpoint that has a 20 meter port on one side and a microwave data 
link on the other.  A large power cable will be the only other connection. 
It won't matter whether the operator is sitting in a tent at the base of the 
tower or at poolside on the other side of the planet.  But propagation will 
still matter.  Antenna choice and placement will still matter.  Ground 
conductivity and local noise level and topography will still matter. 
Operator skill will still matter.  That's what matters.

73, Ward N0AX