[CQ-Contest] WRTC2018 Qualifying

[Radio K0HB]

> We need to stop disparaging how people choose to operate.  Yes, there 

> are different categories, but one does not mean you are a better radio 

> operator than another.











Randy is right.  Absolutely right


My "point and click" remark was not appropriate and unfairly characterizes assisted class operations as the child of some lesser God.




I am wrong for letting my passion drive such a rude description which insults those many skilled Contesters who choose the assisted/unlimited categories.  I sincerely apologize.




My passion is not against the existence of the assisted categories, but against the growing practice of unfairly penalizing those who have chosen NOT to use assistance.





> I worked 5000+ QSOs in the CQWW this past weekend.  I operated in the 

> Assisted category.  I can assure you that there was far more to 

> accomplishing this than “point  and click” skills.  Did using the Cluster help 

> make my score higher than if I did not use it?  Yes.  




What a HUGE effort and truly impressive accomplishment. Boggles the mind that a single operator can amass such a QSO count in a weekend.  My hat is off to Randy.




And thank you for acknowledging that if you hadn't chosen to use assistance, you likely would have scored less points.  (In different words, you could say the cluster provided you an advantage.)




What is left unsaid is that you would have also been playing against a different set of competitors who, like you, made choice not to use the cluster.

> Have you noticed that most new contesters look at their final score as the 

> metric for success.  A higher score is considered “better.”




Not only new contesters, but ALL contesters view higher scores as better than lower scores.  Thank you, Captain Obvious!




What you leave unsaid is that all contesters strive for the highest score that they can achieve IN THEIR CHOSEN CATEGORY.




For a moment lets shift the paradigm.  A bunch of fellows decide to run a one-mile foot race.  The fastest runner wins the "category".  




Another bunch of fellows, more modern than the first, decides to run a one-mile bicycle race, assisting themselves with the technology of wheels and sprockets and chains.  The fastest rider wins the "category", but even the slowest bicycle rider had a clear technology advantage over even the fastest foot racer.












Should the foot racers skill be ranked in a consolidated category which includes bicycle riders?




Again, I retract and apologize for my rude "point and click" label, but I restate my assertion that it is tragic that the DL WRTC has chosen to rank SO efforts in the same bucket with those who chose the score advantages of SOA.




73, de Hans, K0HB

On Tue, Dec 2, 2014 at 8:14 AM, Randy Thompson K5ZD <k5zd at charter.net>
wrote:

> We need to stop disparaging how people choose to operate.  Yes, there are different categories, but one does not mean you are a better radio operator than another.
>  
> I worked 5000+ QSOs in the CQWW this past weekend.  I operated in the Assisted category.  I can assure you that there was far more to accomplishing this than “point and click” skills.  Did using the Cluster help make my score higher than if I did not use it?  Yes.  Have you noticed that most new contesters look at their final score as the metric for success.  A higher score is considered “better.”
>  
> Anyone  who has been licensed in the past 15 years does not know ham radio DXing and contesting without the availability of the DX Cluster via the Internet.  It is as natural to them as learning CW was for those who started back in the days of the Novice license.  We all tend to favor what we first learned or grew up with.  But, that doesn’t mean those who come later have to conform to what was done before.
>  
> With the exception of ARRL, CQ and the Scandinavian Activity Contest, the rest of the world’s contest organizers have moved on and allow single operators to use the Cluster if they want.  It doesn’t make contesting any less fun for the participants.
>  
>  
> Randy, K5ZD
>  
>  
> From: Radio K0HB [mailto:kzerohb at gmail.com] 
> Sent: Tuesday, December 02, 2014 5:00 AM
> To: k5zd at charter.net
> Cc: sawyered at earthlink.net; Stan Stockton; cq-contest at contesting.com
> Subject: Re: [CQ-Contest] WRTC2018 Qualifying
>  
> That is truly tragic as it favors "point and click" skills over "radioman" skills.
>  
> 73, de Hans, K0HB
>  
>  
> On Monday, Dec 1, 2014 at 21:50, Randy Thompson K5ZD <k5zd at charter.net>, wrote:
> The surprise for me is that Assisted scores are compared against Unassisted. 
> This really says that if you want maximum points, you have to plan on 
> working Assisted. 
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