[CQ-Contest] Contesting 10 years from now (2007)

[Sterling Coffey]

Younger generation chiming in with...contests are going to get a lot less
active :(

There is a huge contingent of young ops in Region 1 (mostly thanks to YOTA)
but on the other sides of the world, youth contesters are a little less
organized. That has hopefully changed with the creation of Young Amateurs
Radio Club <https://yarc.world/>, the Collegiate Initiative
<http://www.facebook.com/groups/ARRLCARI>, and some push to bring a
YOTA-like organization to IARU regions 2 and 3.

All of that pales in comparison to the age of current contesters. I posit
it's slightly lower than the average, but Sweepstakes reports don't lie
(although club calls obscure the actual operator's license year, which for
W0EEE was 1923 whilst everyone who operated was licensed for less than 5
years.

Here's my thoughts for ham radio contesting in 10 years:


   1. Drops in total logs submitted will invoke new categories for youth
   (and not just Rookie) will spring up, just like the college sub-competition
   during NAQP and Sweepstakes.
   2. New AI category
   3. New "Knobs" category
   4. Technicians will get active contesting on their new bands, to the
   chagrin of many established operators.
   5. SSB & CW will be a mainstay but digi contests will begin to outshine
   "classic" modes
   6. WSJT will flesh out the DXpedition mode into a fully fledged contest
   mode, which will allow multiple QSOs per contact
   7. Remotes will become ubiquitous and I suspect it'll be put into it's
   own category.
   8. More livestreaming. I'd love to see a Ham Radio category on Twitch.tv!
   9. contest score reporting will be adopted by a majority; no need to
   upload logs as it's being uploaded in realtime on a qso-by-qso basis
   10. Additionally, logs are instantaneously and irrefutably cross-checked
   for authenticity using signed blockchain technology on the ethereum (or
   similar) network (HamRadioCoin is a thing already!
   <https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/hamradiocoin/>)
   11. Bigdata/Neural networking intertwined with real time conditions will
   tell ops which band, mode, and beam azimuth and elevation pattern to
   operate for maximum rate
   12. There will be no need to ask QRL? Your radio determines the best TX
   frequency in the band and decodes everything in the band simultaneously (so
   there's also no need to reply to a CQ at the same frequency)
   1. Expanding on that, there will be AI contests solely dedicated to
      automatic QSOs (still requiring some semblance of operator
intervention to
      meet regulations) running at rates pushing 1200QSO/hr
      13. Radio equipment continues their push towards SDR and
   miniaturization
   14. New inductor technology shrinks the size and cost of linear
   amplifiers and power supplies
   15. But an elecraft K3, FT-*000, TS-990, Flex 6*00 etc...will still sell
   for the same price as they are today.

Sterling, N0SSC


On Mon, Mar 26, 2018 at 11:10 AM, rjairam at gmail.com <rjairam at gmail.com>
wrote:

> My take on 10 years from now:
>
> A lot of the old guard will sadly be SK, with not a lot of replacement
> from younger generation, unless we do something.
>
> Top 3 US for the majors will almost exclusively be remote operation.
> The only problem is who will be driving.
>
> Assisted and non-assisted will be combined for some majors. Sad to see
> it go, but I am getting used to the idea.
>
> CW contest entries will remain stable while SSB and digital may see a
> modest boost.
>
> Digital (HF) contests will include weak signal (WSJT) modes.
>
> VHF contests will be nearly all weak signal (WSJT) modes on 6 meters.
> It's pretty much that way now.
>
> HOAs - the South and Southwest US will continue to have tons of HOA
> issues. As the US East Coast slows in population growth and new
> housing starts, that's where there will be fewer restrictions. But
> that comes with two caveats - winter and cost of living, unless you do
> remote operation.
>
> Hams will still like knobbed radios although the market for SDRs is
> growing.
>
> 73
> Ria
> N2RJ
>
>
>
>
> On Sun, Mar 25, 2018 at 5:32 PM, Mark <markzl3ab at gmail.com> wrote:
> > I was looking for something else and stumbled across this on the
> interweb.
> >
> > I hope ES5TV doesn't mind me posting the link.  It sure make interesting
> > reading now.
> >
> > http://www.lhv.ee/images/files/2017.pdf
> >
> > Any bets on the next ten years?
> >
> > 73
> > Mark ZL3AB
> > _______________________________________________
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