[CQ-Contest] Skimmers etc

[John Bastin]

On Jun 3, 2008, at 17:48 , Neal Campbell wrote:

> I worry that Skimmer is going to take away the guys who are there for
> the love of it, regardless of whether they come in first or 31st.
> Thats the danger. Lose those guys and the contests will slowly (or
> even quickly) die.

Speaking for myself, I disagree. The people who are there for the love  
of it could care less what technology the other contesters are using.

For myself, I'm a DXer first and a contester second. I get into  
contests I choose because of the possibility of working DX; I try to  
do the best I can, but I know I'm never going to see my score in the  
box. To me, the Skimmer is a non-issue; I'll still contest, the fact  
that others are using Skimmers isn't going to affect my score in the  
slightest (actually, it may help it; if I'm running and the Skimmers  
find me, so much the better! Very few occasions in a contest have I  
been spotted...:-))

> I will use Skimmer because it will enable me to operate more time
> without feeling blown away by 30-40 wpm speeds. If you blow away those
> guys who just love the spirit and effort of it though, my effort will
> not really matter much.

I love contests where I can sit and run at 32-35 wpm speeds,  
unfortunately the propagation has been such in recent years that with  
my not-overpowering signal, 28 wpm results in a better rate of  
return...:-) I don't think using Skimmer is going to slow anyone down,  
but it will copy them for you so you already know the call sign when  
you call them to work them...:-/

Believe me, the guys who do it "for the love of it" aren't blown away  
by 30-40 wpm speeds.

73,

John Bastin K8AJS
bastinj at gmail.com