[CQ-Contest] 6M CW

[Jim Brown]

On 10/26/2022 9:43 AM, James George wrote:
> I’ve always felt that anything that induces people to try ham radio is a positive, and longer term they migrate to whatever interests them more. The hobby must be a “big tent” and I say that as an OT who has more or less moved to CW exclusively. So welcome to all no matter what your ham radio pleasure.

Yes. I've primarily been a CW op all my life, but I've found that I 
enjoy RTTY contesting, and SSB as well, when not be bombarded by the 
"please copy" lids. I use K1JT's modes extensively for weak signal work, 
meteor scatter, and tropo, but have yet to be motivated to contest with 
it beyond casual VHF. (I'm on the wrong side of the ridge for anything 
above 6M other than EME or MS).

For those advancing the "computer talking to computer" argument, I 
remind them that ham radio is about FAR more than operating, and that 
neither computer learned how radio, electronics, or antennas work, 
learned propagation, built our respective stations, including our 
antennas, matching networks, chokes to kill noise and prevent 
interaction between antennas, antenna switching systems, grounding, and 
bonding.

Equally important, resources that other hams have devised and 
contributed, like PSKReporter, which displays decodes of digital 
transmissions, updating every few minutes, and DXMaps for cluster spots, 
allow near real-time study of propagation on selected bands. And the use 
of the cluster network to compare the performance of our stations to 
those of our neighbors, or one of our antennas to another, in both 
cases, studying many spots from many stations and averaging MANY spots 
in a disciplined manor.

73, Jim K9YC