[CQ-Contest] Just one weekend

[David Gilbert]

Frighteningly enough I often agree with with Mal, but I'm afraid I can't 
do so this time.

I don't think that reliance on clusters has anything to do with any 
"generation" of contesters.  I'd bet my rig that there are just as many 
old timers who now predominantly use clusters instead of manually 
searching the bands as there are newer hams.  And I'd bet that it has 
rather little to do with being "lazy" and more to do with the time that 
people are willing to spend in a contest or chasing DX.  Check out the 
statistics on the number of hours the majority of hams spend in any 
contest ... it isn't a very high percentage of the total contest 
period.  Check out the percentage of contest participants who submit a 
log ... I'd be surprised if it typically exceeds 10%.  Spotting clusters 
bypass a skill that used to be part and parcel of operating an amateur 
radio station, but so does using a memory keyer or buying a commercial 
antenna or any number of other things I could come up with.

Personally, I can think of other lost arts in our hobby that would 
concern me much more than how well someone can find another station.  
What about how to time a call in a pileup, or adjust your rig to put out 
a clean signal, or make a crisp contact in a contest, or have the least 
little bit understanding of propagation?  People who want to shut down 
the spotting tools seem to think that they're the worst things going on 
in our hobby, but they aren't.  They're merely some of the most popular, 
most visible, and easiest to identify a "solution" for.

Clusters aren't ruining our hobby ... bad behavior, stodginess, and 
intolerance is.

Dave   AB7E




On 2/28/2011 7:30 AM, N7mal wrote:
> I don't often, if ever, agree with Hans, K0HB, but this time he has hit the
> nail on the head.
> More than 20 years ago I was an early packet-cluster sysop. That means there
> is a whole generation of hams who know nothing but the clusters. Then
> there's another generation of hams who have just become 'flat-out' lazy in
> their  contesting and DXing efforts. They have completely forgotten the term
> S&P. If their local cluster goes down they hyperventilate. No I'm not
> nostalgic for the good 'ole' days because I'm connected to VE7CC 24/7. I
> also don't think turning off technology will mean the end of ham radio.
> Put me down as 100% in............
> 73
>
>
> MAL
> N7MAL
> BULLHEAD CITY, AZ
> http://www.n7mal.com
> Everyone in the world is
> entitled to be burdened
> by my opinion
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> Subject: [CQ-Contest] Just one weekend
>
>
> Let’s pick one summer weekend in 2012, when no DXpedition is planned and
> no significant international contest is scheduled.  Maybe the second weekend
> of August.
>
> On that weekend, let’s turn off all the DX packet clusters, all the
> internet spotting networks, all the skimmers, all the RBN’s, and just play
> “a boy and his radio”.
>
> Just one weekend, 18 months from now.
>
> Talk it up.  Pass it on.
>
> 73, de Hans, K0HB/K7
>
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> CQ-Contest mailing list
> CQ-Contest at contesting.com
> http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/cq-contest
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> CQ-Contest mailing list
> CQ-Contest at contesting.com
> http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/cq-contest