[CQ-Contest] Observations of a Young Ham

[Pierre Fogal]

Hi Mike,

I do mostly SSB at this point.  Hopefully the CW will come back to
something usable.  I was off the air for 10 years after moving back to
Canada.  I was also a '0' out of Colorado.

I know I am one of many in the same boat.  I ain't complaining.  I do it
because I enjoy it and part of the cachet for me is to beat better equipped
operators on the occasional qso either by listening better or by getting
lucky. :-) I would never expect someone to assemble, or having done so make
use of, less than what they could just to even the field for me.

I've a few times lived in the pile-up from NA-008 and NA-043, so I have had
a taste of high-intensity, and great respect for those that do so
routinely.  If everyone had that experience, they'd be more orderly! If I
did get spotted I might have the occasional 30-40 per hour rate which would
make it all more fun.

73,
Pierre VE3KTB, KC0IGY, sometimes VY0ERC


> 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
>
>