[CQ-Contest] Moral outrage

[Jim Brown]

On 1/17/2019 1:51 PM, Jeff Clarke wrote:
> Anything you can't hear with your human ears isn't real radio.

This statement assumes that "real radio" is defined ONLY by the human 
operator as he/she sits in front of a "real radio," while ignoring the 
contribution of the antenna system(s), the other equipment that make up 
the station, and the engineering that goes into building the station.

As a member of the Northern California Contest Club, which sponsors CQP, 
I know that the rule limiting participation to CW and SSB is a conscious 
decision made to optimize participation. Most participants in state QSO 
parties know that a critical part of their success is the activation of 
rare counties by mobile and portable operations. I'm part of a group 
that does these activations in CQP and 7QP.

Scoring rules are another important aspect of any contest. CQP gives 
only QSO credit (no multipliers) for in-state QSOs, encouraging in-state 
participants to focus on working out of state stations. I've recently 
lost interest in some of the SE US state parties because the mobiles 
that make the contest interesting have abandoned 20M early in the day so 
that they can make in-state QSOs for multiplier credit. By the way -- I 
can work these QSO parties, which are in the range of 2,000 miles, not 
because I'm a great op, but because I have serious RX and TX antennas, 
another example of "real radio."

73, Jim K9YC