[CQ-Contest] Observations of a Young Ham

[W0MU Mike Fatchett]

Pierre,

Are you not getting spotted on CW or SSB or both.

I have noticed that people are far more reluctant to spot on SSB.  Maybe 
we have just got lazy because RBN spots pretty much everything on CW for 
us.  You know you can test your signals and look on the RBN to see what 
nodes heard you.  I use this to test new antennas and compare the 
results as best I can.

Your story and what you can or cannot put up is a common story and  is 
becoming more common.  Almost all new housing areas have HOA's or 
restrictions, which makes if far more difficult for hams to find ham 
radio property close to their office or area where they desire to live.  
Maybe we need to have more classes or create a class that is a base 
system of a 100 watt radio and a vertical or dipoles no more than 50 ft 
in the air or similar. Yes I know that CQ has an overlay.  In my mind 
overlays are like a tie or kissing your system to use some cliches.  
Obviously the guy in Maine with the same setup is most likely going to 
beat the same setup in Minnesota for CQ WW but maybe not in NAQP or SS 
or some other non  DX contest.  We will never get to a completely level 
playing field but how close can we get in non WRTC events?

W0MU



On 12/19/2016 9:03 AM, Pierre Fogal wrote:
> This has been a very interesting thread.
>
> I'm the father of 3, 17, 15, and 12.  My two sons ( 17 and 15) are both
> "interested" in amateur radio.  It's in quotes because they are interested
> when I ask if they are, and they kind of randomly make progress towards a
> license.  The 15 yr old is a gamer, and one thing strikes me that I haven't
> seen mentioned yet.  When he plays, he plays against people playing the
> same game with the same equipment, whether a PS-4 or something else.  Not
> the case in a ham radio contest.  Mike (W0MU) described his station as
> nothing special, but I would kill for a tower of any kind -- the XYL
> forbids it.  That doesn't stop me, I still get on and play and occasionally
> win a certificate for ONS low power SSB etc.   I also go really far north
> and operate VY0ERC, but again, a minimal station - albeit for different
> reasons. Either place, it is always a much different operating experience
> for a 100 W into a vertical than it is for 1500W into a stack.  When I
> describe that to my sons, they get that puzzled look of, er, what's the
> point of competing against that?
>
> To segue slightly into a parallel thread on packets/spotting.  I'm not loud
> and I rarely get spotted.  I can CQ for an hour and work 10-20 people and
> not get spotted.  There are guys like VE3EJ not far away, who is likely
> very loud, and I'll see him get spotted all the time.  Surely one of those
> 10-20 is working assisted and I would have thought that working us little
> pistols was advantageous once you've worked all the big guns?
>
> Either way, I'll be on for the next one ... and the one after that ... and
> ...
>
> 73,
> Pierre VE3KTB
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