[CQ-Contest] Ham Radio in the Future

[David Gilbert]

Well, first of all, I'm not an inexperienced contester, although for 
various reasons I haven't been an active one the last few years. I've 
held regional records at times in a few contest categories and I've 
placed top ten U.S. in a few.

More importantly, although contesting is more popular now than it has 
ever been, at least in terms of numbers of participants, we are an aging 
group.  The annual collection of pictures from Dayton tells the story.  
My suggestion was prompted by the comments from W2SC who has a hundred 
times more street cred than either you or I.  If he sees that contesting 
will change in a way driven by younger hams, we might want to pay 
attention instead of just assuming that it will remain popular "just the 
way it is".  You might check out how few commercial ham radio outlets 
remain in business before making comments like that.  There is a reason 
for it.

I strongly suspect that something similar to what I described below will 
never happen.  But something should.

Dave   AB7E


On 8/11/2025 3:56 AM, Daniel Weinhold NC8R wrote:
> I have heard this idea brought up quite a few times. I am a young (Gen Z) ham myself. To me, this idea of transforming ham radio contesting into a video game does not appeal in any way. Part of the reason radio caught my interest in the first place and the reason it continues to fascinate me is that it is not dependent on the internet. It is a form of communication much, much older than the internet or computer games. This is what makes radio so cool!
>
> I also think that contest rule changes should be left up to the older, more experienced contesters. Inexperienced people often want to change things without realizing that they are done a certain way for a very good reason.
>
> If you look around, you will find quite a number of young hams (even younger than myself) who have succeeded in major contests and are enjoying ham radio just the way it is!
>
>
>
> 73,
> Daniel NC8R
>
> Sent with Proton Mail secure email.
>
> On Monday, August 11th, 2025 at 1:40 AM, David Gilbert <ab7echo at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> A friend of mine (Bob, K7ZB) just sent me a link to a recent video
>> interview of Tom, W2SC (aka 8P5A) done by W1DED. In addition to
>> descriptions of his station and approach to contesting, Tom speculates
>> on where ham radio and contesting in particular might go in the future.
>> He pointed out that whatever happens will most likely be determined by a
>> younger generation that isn't bound by what ham radio is to those of us
>> who have been at it for a while.
>>
>> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ck-RMIyjSfI
>>
>> His view of the future is very interesting, and I agree that if ham
>> radio survives to any significant extent it will have to change ... and
>> it will likely be changed by a younger generation that comes up with a
>> way to adapt ham radio to something that is more interesting to them.
>>
>> Personally, I've always thought that contesting should figure out how to
>> become more like an online video game:
>>
>> 1. Integrated computer graphics that display participants on a playing
>> field ... Earth or maybe even some simulated world. You could zoom in
>> or zoom out, but the part of the world available to be seen on your
>> screen could be determined by the real time propagation at that moment.
>> To make a contact you'd have to zoom in far enough to see the station
>> you're trying to contact, and the display would show their current
>> frequency. Real time propagation could be derived from actual contacts
>> being made if everyone's computer was connected to a common server ...
>> just like is done with video games. And before anyone says that real
>> time internet connectivity is an issue, keep in mind that it isn't at
>> all problem for the demographic we'd be trying to reach.
>>
>> 2. Multiplayer .... where every participant shows up on the screen at
>> their actual (or simulated) QTH.
>>
>> 3. ACTUAL COMPETITION! Instead of just trying to make the most
>> contacts and finding out at the end how you did, make each contact some
>> sort of competition that gets displayed on the screen ... and have some
>> way of preventing others from making a contact. How that happens would
>> depend upon the context of the particular game, just like there are
>> different video games. But the idea would be to contest each contact in
>> some manner that requires either an offensive action or a defensive one.
>>
>> 4. "Contacts" (whatever the game required for a point) would still
>> purely come via RF ... station to station. The video display and
>> central server would only provide the environment for making the
>> contacts, albeit a hopefully more elaborate and richer environment than
>> whatever we currently picture in our minds while making contacts now.
>>
>> Some people might say that this is actually no different than a video
>> game and that video games have the advantage of a level playing field
>> since most computers don't hinder your play. And that's precisely why I
>> think a ham radio version might be more interesting. Propagation,
>> antennas, choice of times and bands would all make the game more complex
>> than the typical online video game. The play style would be enriched by
>> the variables of ham radio and the technical side of the hobby would be
>> retained.
>>
>> The biggest problem I see with something like this is getting the
>> programming done. Successful video games can take years and lots of
>> money to develop, although there are games like Valheim that didn't ...
>> at least not by comparison. However, I strongly suspect that it won't
>> be too long before AI could do something like this, or at least most of
>> it. We wouldn't need the complexity of a top tier video game, and
>> graphics engines are becoming increasingly accessible for simple
>> environments. Station wise, I don't think it would be any different
>> than it is now to use a logger for rig control and score tracking ...
>> just different software.
>>
>> I realize that the actual game mechanics are missing here. That's
>> because I'm not smart enough to come up with the specifics. But I am
>> convinced that something like this could be done ... it's really just a
>> simple visual interface with an RF connection for the points instead of
>> data packets. The number of made contacts would be MUCH fewer than it
>> is now for a typical contest, but each contact could potentially require
>> more thought and focus. Think in terms of catching fish instead of
>> hammering out CQ's.
>>
>> Thoughts?
>>
>> Dave
>>
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