[CQ-Contest] Observations of a young ham

[Matt Murphy]

> Can we scale back the entry level "requirements" where everyone uses WRTC
like setups for each contest?  How many hear would operate a contest that
way?  Would it take away from the fun?

I think this is a superb idea... at least to have a category that is very
easy to set up and which would be fun for new and old hams to participate
in.  There is a TB+wires category, but perhaps something even more
restrictive such as "single wire antenna" would be interesting.

If you get to operate a high end station, the best strategy is often
running.  But from a more compromised station it may not always be possible
to run and so other strategies have to be employed. It's more closely akin
to operating a larger station during a major propagation outage.

My suggestion for a WRTC style contest-within-a-contest would be a time
limited, antenna and power limited category, such as 10 hours, 100W, wires
only.

My station happens to be wires only at present, and so most of the
contesting I do from home is casual, only intended to keep my skills up
between chances to operate from larger stations in more serious efforts.
It would be interesting if there were a competitive category that included
some sort of handicapping. Such a thing would certainly increase my desire
to aggressively S&P for a few hours during the contest and perhaps to try
to beat others facing similar conditions.

73,
Matt NQ6N



On Mon, Dec 19, 2016 at 12:05 PM, David Gilbert <xdavid at cis-broadband.com>
wrote:

>
>
> On 12/19/2016 4:31 AM, Ed Sawyer wrote:
>
>>
>> The excuse that bad on the air behavior is somehow a problem is bogus.
>> Just
>> check out the garbage on line that the kids are used to and ignore ad it
>> doesn't dissuade them from being on line.
>>
>>
>>
>
> Totally agree with this.  The in-game chat boxes in many (most, probably)
> games are absolutely toxic and can be disturbingly abusive, but that
> doesn't dissuade most from playing.  There is a difference, though ... you
> can pretty easily ignore the comments and even turn them off completely if
> you want.
>
>
>> Contest DXpeditions, antenna farms, the science of propagation and space
>> weather, then adding the competitive part is the uniqueness of our hobby.
>> Trying to compare it to gaming is an effort in futility and doesn't
>> respect
>> what we actually do.
>>
>>
> I also agree with this.  But it also points out that we're talking
> different motivations for both activities, and the reality is that the
> appeal (as well as the cost in terms of dollars and time) is totally
> different.  We aren't going to make contesting more popular by limiting it
> to its historical aspects.
>
>
>> The next time you are out in the snow is sub zero weather fixing your 160
>> antenna before a contest, you might want to remind yourself of that.
>>
>>
>>
> Now there's a sales pitch for a prospective contester if I ever heard
> one.   ;)
>
> 73,
> Dave   AB7E
>
>
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