[CQ-Contest] CQ WW Participation

[James Cain]

The stats for the ARRL DX Contest are all positive, too, I believe. 

I think contest participation is pretty high now thanks to our Baby Boom generation (born 1946 to 1964), especially those of us born in the first 10 years of that period -- we first licensed from about 1960 to 1970. Scan your CW SS logs for the CK numbers if you don't believe it. 

It was almost cool to be a teen-aged ham in the 1960s because it was almost cool to be a math or science or even chess nerd, headed for engineering school to design space rockets (or weapons systems). We were a generation raised to be competitive, even if some of us chose not to. 

Technology has helped increase activity as well. Although I am (now) relegated to an apartment, I'll probably be on till I drop. By earlier standards, I have little invested in ham gear (a transceiver and an antenna tuner). Thanks to telecommunication techology, I don't have to worry about interfering with a neighbor's over-the-air TV reception, or landline telephone, or component stereo system. In fact, the opposite is true -- I hope none of my close neighbors has a plasma TV set. 

We are very, very fortunate to find outselves in this time and place. 

Jim Cain, K1TN   (b 1948)