[CQ-Contest] KILLING THE GOLDEN GOOSE

[Cqtestk4xs at aol.com]

Both K5GO and W0UA are right on the mark.  Although I have begun to do  
assisted, many (perhaps the majority) of serious contesters do not.  The  
concept of combining both into one category makes no sense to me.
 
We want to encourage more participation, not discourage it.  By  passing 
such a rule, it would discourage many of the purists (no packet) from  
operating as is evidenced by the posts on this reflector.  It would also  cut down 
some categories.  Any time you cut the categories you deprive guys  from 
winning a certificate.  That piece of paper on the wall is what  drives many 
guys.  Third place in W4-40 meters low power may not mean much  to the big 
guns, but it means a lot to a little gun who can put that paper on  his wall.
 
I stopped operating the WAE when they eliminated the HF bracket and also  
combined all entries into one class whether or not they were assisted or  
not.  Shame, since I was a serious participant and won several of  the "license 
plates" in the 90s.
 
Let's not combine the classes, please!  make sure you let the boys at  CQ 
know about this in their survey.
 
Bill K4XS/KH7XS
 
 
In a message dated 3/17/2013 3:07:40 P.M. Coordinated Universal Time,  
W0ua at aol.com writes:

KILLING  THE GOLDEN GOOSE


I don't do these forum-things as a rule, but my  friend K5GO tipped me  
that 
there was a serious (?) suggestion about  "combining" the SOAB and SO (A)  
categories.  Apparently there  was a survey sent around, but I surely 
wasn't  
aware of it. (As an  aside, I have to wonder how many more like me, who've 
been  in nearly  every major CQ HF Contest over the last several years, 
were  
similarly  unaware this was happening?  How many of those who  received the 
survey  might be "casual" entrants as opposed to serious  SOAB-types?)  
Anyway,  
thanks for the heads-up, Stan, and   I think I've seen enough of the  
discussion to pitch a few marbles  into the ring...

First, "combining" is a nice word that doesn't really  mean what it says in 
 
this discussion.  What's being put forward  is eliminating the SOAB  
category, in favor of the "Assisted"  category.   I've seen it said  here 
that 33 
percent of the  single-op entries are "Assisted."  I take from  this, then, 
that  66 percent reside in the nominal SOAB category.  That  sounds like a  
pretty healthy majority to me--surely not an anachronism ripe for   the 
scrap 
heap!  I submit that SOAB remains the greatest challenge in  the  contest 
game, 
requiring the highest levels of skill, dedication  and  endurance--which is 
why it attracts so many of those folks for  whom those  qualities are 
valued. 
This catgeory comprises a big share  of the best operators  on this 
planet--who should likewise be  highly-valued by the contest  sponsors!  
So, am I 
getting this  right--that the majority category...the  category with so 
many  
outstanding competitors--the one presenting the highest   challenge--this 
is the 
one we would even consider eliminating?  The  tail  should wag the dog, you 
say?   That can't be right--I  must be missing  something here?  

I saw mention made that we  need to get with the "new normal" in 
contesting. 
I'm guessing that this  implies Internet assistance.  Hasn't that already  
been fully  accepted?  As it stands, The "Assisted" category even runs to   
single-band entrants.  33 percent may not be a majority but it is a  
sizable  
group and I think they've been nicely accommodated--there  are clearly lots 
of 
folks who enjoy and prefer this mode--and all the  categories have been 
provided  to support them.  I'm not into  "Assisted" myself, but if it 
floats 
peoples'  boats and gets them on  the air, that's all good.  So, where's 
the 
problem  in all this  that requires kicking nominal SOAB to the curb?     
Again,  I must be missing something here?   

I notice that the  subject of cheating comes up in this chat, and with it  
come a couple  of troubling implications:  

(1)  That cheating (of the  Internet variety) is taking place among  SOAB 
entrants  

(2)  That this purported cheating cannot always be detected  and  
ajudicated 
by the sponsors

Certainly, SOAB is the most  "cheatable" category--I'm sure it does happen. 
 
That acknowledged,  you can call me naive, but I don't think Internet 
cheating is  either  significant or widespread in the SOAB category.  
But...let's  
just  say for a moment that it was:  Would the proper response  be to 
surrender to  the cheaters and eliminate the mainstream  category because 
it's  
"cheatable?"  I enter SOAB contests  believing that the overwhelming and  
pervasive ethic is for  operating--as I do--on honorable terms.  Further, I 
 trust 
the  sponsors and administrators to protect the integrity of their events  
to  
the very best of their abilities and resources.  I think we have  to  
accept 
some factors as articles-of-faith--and we seem to have a  majority of  
entrants willing to do just that.  Eliminating our  category-of-choice 
seems  a 
rather shabby reward for our trust and  devotion over not just years, but  
decades.  

I noticed  one post here which posited that, in effect, this is all just  
about  fun, leisure, relaxation.  Playing 18 holes in the sun on a May   
afternoon is fun.  Fly-fishing in a mountain stream is  leisurely.   That 
is, unless 
you're striving to beat your best  golf score or competing in  stroke-play 
against the club champ.   Or, perhaps you're tracking fish  caught, in a 
friendly game with  your buddies.  If there's competition  involved (even 
with  
yourself), that always seems to add a little urgency to the   proceedings.  
The 
SOAB competition--arguably the toughest, the  most  individualistic test of 
all--is about as "urgent" as it gets  among it's skilled,  dedicated and 
perennial devotees.  Kill  that off while it's still in its  prime and 
you're 
amputating a  healthy limb.  Why would anyone want to do  that?  I must be  
missing something here... 


Geo   W0UA     
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