[CQ-Contest] Ham Radio in the Future

Mike Fatchett W0MU w0mu at w0mu.com
Wed Aug 13 00:49:42 EDT 2025 

Event...Like the 1st one to work W1AAA gets bonus points......The 1st to 
50 contacts gets.....  the 1st to 50 mults.....  bonus for low power.  
Just a few off the top of my head.  Team play where the team that does X 
1st or has the cleanest log gets more points.  The options are endless.

This will not be a game for the old guard or a contest for the old 
guard.  People in general dislike change from the norm, old people are 
even worse.  It will take a while and some probably will need to pass on 
before major changes will happen.

W0MU

On 8/12/2025 3:11 PM, David Gilbert wrote:
>
> You totally miss the point.  The internet would ONLY be used to 
> provide a graphical environment.  Nothing more!
>
> The application would make use of that visual environment to open up 
> other possibilities for earning points other than simply making the 
> contact.  The application would essentially just be a smarter logger.
>
> RADIO (TRANSMITTED AND RECEIVED RF WOULD STILL BE REQUIRED to actually 
> make whatever interaction the game demanding for earning the points.  
> You'd still need an antenna, a transceiver, you'd need to know how to 
> operate them, and you'd still need to understand propagation.  The 
> internet would not supplant, diminish, or add to any of that.
>
> Why is all of that so difficult to understand??
>
> Right now you just stare at your logger on your computer screen, but 
> instead you could be looking at an actual visual representation of the 
> other side of the contact in either a simulated real or imaginary 
> environment.  And the "game" could open up other ways of earning 
> points depending upon the chosen mechanics.  Like I've said, I'm not 
> sure what those mechanics might be at this point but I'd bet other 
> folks would have suggestions if they weren't afraid of the stodgy 
> blowback.
>
> Dave  AB7E
>
>
> On 8/12/2025 6:34 AM, Zack Widup wrote:
>> Well, then, we can no longer call it ham RADIO. Radio has a specific
>> definition, which doesn't include the internet. I originally got 
>> interested
>> in radio because it was magic to me. It still is after almost 60 
>> years of
>> having a ham license, and longer than that being interested in 
>> shortwave as
>> an SWL. Internet is not magic to me at all.
>>
>> Maybe I'll just stick to the microwave/mm-wave bands, which is a vast
>> unexplored territory for most hams.
>>
>> Zack W9SZ
>>
>> <http://www.avg.com/email-signature?utm_medium=email&utm_source=link&utm_campaign=sig-email&utm_content=webmail> 
>>
>> Virus-free.www.avg.com
>> <http://www.avg.com/email-signature?utm_medium=email&utm_source=link&utm_campaign=sig-email&utm_content=webmail> 
>>
>> <#DAB4FAD8-2DD7-40BB-A1B8-4E2AA1F9FDF2>
>>
>> On Mon, Aug 11, 2025 at 3:43 PM Barry W2UP <w2up.co at gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>>> We don't need RF.  Let's just contest online.  Then we won't have 
>>> horrible
>>> band condx like we did (at least in the west) this past weekend in WAE.
>>>
>>> Barry W2UP (/0)
>>>
>>> On Mon, Aug 11, 2025 at 12:05 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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