[CQ-Contest] Remote op & Who is this guy, really?

Thu Nov 5 14:57:52 EST 2015

Stu (and Contest Community),

There is nothing to disagree with in your point of view, very well said.  I don't entirely agree with it, not because it is wrong but because my interests are a bit different.  Using your metric, some of contesting is less fun for me because of certain changes.  That being said, it also isn't right for me to block someone else's fun.  Thus, I agree with you about undesirability of the draconian rule approach of just banning everything new.  

We all need to recognize the changes going on, talk about them and what they mean to contesting, and structure rules and activities in such a way as to preserve the experience for the most people.  We won't all agree but we can get to a place that most of us accept.  Assisted operation is an example of a compromise that I think most of us are OK with even if not all like it.

I have to say that going fully in the other direction, one example of which is having a CW ID when operating phone to allow skimmer operation, is quite distasteful to me.  I'm not trying to attack the people that had that idea, as it is actually a very clever solution.  But it just feels wrong and not at all fun.

Creating some contests that are more "boy and his radio" only is one valid approach.  But I also think we need to consider impact on the big dogs like CQ WW and how the changes can best be handled to everyone's benefit.

Enough of my soapbox, I think.  Good conversation.

73,

Drew K3PA

-----Original message-----
From:Stuart Phillips <stu at ridgelift.com>
Sent:Thu 11-05-2015 10:40 am
Subject:Re: [CQ-Contest] Remote op & Who is this guy, really?
To:Drew Vonada-Smith <drew at whisperingwoods.org>; cq-contest at contesting.com; 

I think a point worth mentioning is that the rare section still has a station.

- Someone built it

- Someone keeps it going

- The station is (still) in the rare section

It’s the reality that the someone doesn’t like to operate in contests that makes the section rare coupled with the limited population of “other someones” who also build stations in the section and don’t like to contest.  I suspect that the number of station owners in the rare section (willing to build and allow remote operation) is such the rare section still remains rare.

What’s the difference between this and the following examples:

*	Tom K5RC has invested years (decades ?) of effort building out the Comstock Memorial Station W7TN near Reno.  Tom himself now prefers not to operate but instead hosts world class operators such as Bob N6TV, Jeff WK6I and others to operate.  They put in killer scores and win events.  Tom is now beginning to make this station accessible remotely.
*	A small team of us have built a contest station on the top of a mountain near San Jose with a killer location.  Its remote and in (the hopefully) inclement weather is at best a challenge to physically go to the station if not dangerous.  We have designed the station to be remotely controlled so we can enjoy what we have built and contest even when its pouring with rain and howling a gale (hey, we live in California but we can still hope).

Should we add an “owner occupier” rule to all contests?

Rule XX.zz.y:  All entries must be completed from a station owned and operated by the operator who must be physically located at the station.

A contest organizer could add such a rule.  It would eliminate all of the above cases – rare section operated remotely, guest operators at world class stations, remote contest stations and even my home station where I contest remotely from the station which is about 400’ away from where I operate.

But to what end?

To me, the purpose of contesting is to have FUN (oh, and to win of course ;-) and operate within the rules established by the contest organizer.  Yes, there are limits (rules) that add to fun for some (assisted operation perhaps) and detract for others (assisted operation perhaps again?) but I can still find a category/overlay where I can have fun.

If it stops being fun for one as an individual, then the individual will quit contesting.

And then we all have one less station to work…

THAT dampens the fun.

If the intent is to restore the “boy and his radio” style station then someone should sponsor and adjudicate a contest where this is written into the rules.  I just hope that other contest organizers don’t have the same idea and contesting quits being fun for the rest of us.

Stu K6TU

On 11/4/15, 8:02 AM, "CQ-Contest on behalf of Drew Vonada-Smith" <cq-contest-bounces at contesting.com <mailto:cq-contest-bounces at contesting.com> on behalf of drew at whisperingwoods.org <mailto:drew at whisperingwoods.org> > wrote:

Friends,

I had to take this opportunity after the comment about the end of rare sections...

I think all this remote work, trying to help J. etc is interesting and wonderful and I really don't mean to be negative.  But...what is the point of a "rare section" if you don't have to be there to operate?  Doesn't this in many ways, miss the point of a multiplier?  

As an analogous example, what if a DXpedition were to put up an automated station in Bouvet, and operate it from home?  Bouvet becomes common.  What have we really achieved?  HF propagation to Bouvet was never really the point, was it?

I'm not a Luddite, I get the interest, good intentions, and technical achievement in all this.  It sounds fun!  But as a test to see if I was just narrow-minded or a fuddy-duddy, I ran this remote idea past a few non-hams who know just enough about contesting to understand.  The comments I received were:

- That's bogus

- That's cheating

- You guys have lost your way

Can't say I disagree.  Food for thought.  Not to stop such operations, progress will always move forward, but to try and recognize what it all means and establish limits.

73,

Drew K3PA

-----Original message-----

From:Art Boyars <artboyars at gmail.com <mailto:artboyars at gmail.com> >

Sent:Wed 11-04-2015 09:21 am

Subject:[CQ-Contest] Who is this guy, really?

To:CQ-Contest Reflector <cq-contest at contesting.com <mailto:cq-contest at contesting.com> >;

W1VE said:  "Thanks to a lot of work from J and the remote team, Hal, W1NN,

will operate [VY1AAA] SOHP in November SS via remote from his home in Ohio."

OK, so "Hal, W1NN" will operate a NT station from his home in Ohio.

But for the past many contests "Hal" has purportedly operated "W1NN" in

Ohio ... remotely from Japan.  (You could look it up.)

Can we believe that "Hal" is really where he says he is, or that the

station is where it claims to be, or even who he says he is?

(In case I'm too subtle, that was a joke.)

And Gerry will be (actually, physically) at K2LE in VT.  Could that be

competition for W1SJ?

Are we about to see the end of rare Sections in SS?  (Not a joke.)

73, Art K3KU

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