[CQ-Contest] The Rise and Fall of Contesting

[Radio K0HB]

As I said, it's a blend. 




The best station won't always win, and the best operator won't always win.  (Sometimes neither one might win.). 




He who brews the best blend (and is favored by the Chief-in-Charge-of-Props) will drink from the Winners Cup.




73, HB



—
Sent from Mailbox

On Wed, May 27, 2015 at 9:59 AM, Doug Renwick <ve5ra at sasktel.net> wrote:

> Some good thoughts Hans.
> "Stated a little differently, you could say "A competitor was the fellow 
> acquired good skills and built a good station.""
> A good station helps but as I will show, it is not a guaranteed winner.  I
> went to Montserrat in 1983; yes a long time ago with hand logging and no
> assistance, to compete in the WPX contest.  Another fellow (American) also
> went and had for some years; his call VP2MGQ.  I was renting a station that
> Bobby Martin, VP2MO, managed.  I went and checked out the other station.  He
> had a TH6 at 50-60 feet.  Since he was entering the all band category, he
> suggested I choose a different category.  Well I thought about that but
> decided that I came here to compete in the all band and that is what I did.
> Now the station I was using only had a A3 at 30 feet.  It would not do well
> against the TH6 on 20m or the low bands.  So I knew my strengths and
> weakness.  As it turned out with some good planning and some luck, I was
> able to maximize my 15 and 10m contacts.  And in doing so, out scored the
> other Montserrat station and set a new NA record.  So a better station does
> not a guarantee a bigger score. 
> Doug
> I wasn't born in Saskatchewan, but I got here as soon as I could.
> -----Original Message-----
> Well reasoned and well stated, Doug.
> Regarding your last point ("It's no longer an operator contest, but has 
> become a technology contest."), I will take some exception, and use your 
> opening statement to frame my comments.
> "Many years ago contesting was a competition of an operator and station 
> against the world."
> Stated a little differently, you could say "A competitor was the fellow 
> acquired good skills and built a good station."
> ---
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