[CQ-Contest] What is RadioSport/Contesting like?

[jimk8mr at aol.com]

I liken the world of ham radio and ham radio contesting to the world of bridge.


For most people involved, neither is an organized competition. It is people who sit around a kitchen table or in front of a radio doing their thing. But for those who are competitive there are many similarities.


Both are games of mental skill where physical abilities are of little or no importance other than the ability to remain alert for long periods of time. There are very good bridge players who sit in wheelchairs.


Many bridge hands/QSOs are pretty mundane, that a novice can handle just about as well as a pro. But as the going gets tougher, the skills and talents honed by years of experience pay off for both. 


While both are games of skill, luck does play a part. Will the 7Q7 answer your CQ? Will you correctly guess which way to play a hand in the absence of any relevant clues?


Neither is a game played for big prize money, although in the bridge world there are professionals whose business model is based on a combination of rich clients who like to win and teaching by playing. Neither sport is a natural for television. Both games have a lot of big egos.


Sadly, both have similar demographic issues. I'd estimate the fat part of the bridge player bell curve is about ten years older than that of the ham radio contesting community.  There are young people in both, just not many. Unlike ham radio, there are a lot of women bridge players.


And in the USA, the national organizations for both sports have the same first and last names. In bridge it is the American Contract Bridge League.




73   -  Jim  K8MR


Bronze Life Master and ACBL Club Director






-----Original Message-----
From: Mike Smith VE9AA <ve9aa at nbnet.nb.ca>
To: cq-contest <cq-contest at contesting.com>
Sent: Wed, Sep 9, 2015 11:27 pm
Subject: [CQ-Contest] What is RadioSport/Contesting like?




Anyone else seen this
show, or what do you tell your friends, neighbours,
coworkers, that RadioSport
is like? (what do you compare it to, iow?)