[Fourlanders] FW: [VHF] Gene's QST Column - Part 1

[Bill Pence]

maybe these old codgers should set up spark gap EME, then they can
have their own organization (I bet Wayne Green -- still not dead, btw.
I think he might be onto something with the whole raw food thing --
would sponsor them for $12.59 each) then they can have their OWN
contest, and they are the only ones who can win.

On second thought, all these dadgum newfangled radios gots computers
in 'em and synthesizers inside anyway to make contacts easier.  We
should put those ops in their own category and penalize them 50% of
their points for too easy contacts, then only the people using a swan
250 for 6m and a swan 500C for HF get full contact points. I guess we
can allow gonset communicators on 2m.  maybe we can even give a
multiplier if you use a matched set of heathkit lunchboxes for 6 and
2!

On Tue, Apr 19, 2011 at 3:54 PM, Jim Worsham <wa4kxy at bellsouth.net> wrote:
> What a crock.  You have all seen me running WSJT.  Do you think I could work
> DXCC, WAS, VUAC or anything else in a weekend?  I hate to say it but I am
> starting to get like Marshall.  These anti digital guys are really starting
> to get on my nerves with their irrational fear that someone is getting
> something they have for nothing.  Like Sherman said, some of these guys seem
> to think if someone is doing something fun and innovative it must be stopped
> because that just isn't allowed.  I got my May QST yesterday and read the
> article.  Now Gene is stirring the pot for some reason.  Did you also see
> his comments about making scheds before the contest and even passing folks
> up the bands?  I guess you are supposed to get on 10 GHz and call CQ.  I am
> just going to start ignoring these nut cases before they start causing my
> blood pressure to rise and cause me to have a heart attack or something.
> This is supposed to be fun.  If I want to listen to political back biting
> and complaining I can go to work.  Thanks to everyone for bringing me up to
> speed.  It seems like I am the last person in the world who gets their QST.
> I really wish they would make it available online like the IEEE does with
> all of their publications.
>
> 73
> Jim, W4KXY
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Sherman Banks [mailto:w4atl at shermanbanks.net]
> Sent: Tuesday, April 19, 2011 5:10 AM
> To: Kos
> Cc: Rogers, Ron; wa4kxy at bellsouth.net; Fourlanders
> Subject: Re: [Fourlanders] FW: [VHF] Gene's QST Column - Part 1
>
>
> W3ZZ is writing about the controversy of using digital modes during
> contests. He quotes a east coast VHFer who doesn't like the fact that it is
> easier to make QSOs on digital modes and that they count towards QSOs on the
> VHF bands. Apparently if some VHF contesters see others doing something fun
> an effort must be made to stop it.
>
> "What has taken me 45 years to scratch out with tropo openings and scatter
> contacts can be wiped away in a single weekend using computer to computer
> communications"
>
>
>
> On Apr 18, 2011, at 6:46 PM, Kos <skos at bellsouth.net> wrote:
>
>> <:avglsdata id=avglsdata>
>> I agree, Marshall's recap of the issues are on target....
>>
>> Kos, N4NIA
>>
>>
>> ________________________________
>> From: "Rogers, Ron" <RR124640 at ncr.com>
>> To: "wa4kxy at bellsouth.net" <wa4kxy at bellsouth.net>; Fourlanders
>> <fourlanders at contesting.com>
>> Sent: Mon, April 18, 2011 5:21:25 PM
>> Subject: Re: [Fourlanders] FW: [VHF] Gene's QST Column - Part 1
>>
>> OH YES !!
>>
>> Certainly does provide a lot of upcoming SVHFS Conference courtesy Suite
> and
>> cocktail hours conversation material.
>>
>> What Marshall says is a fairly good summation of the content.
>>
>> Ron
>> WW8RR
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: fourlanders-bounces at contesting.com
>> [mailto:fourlanders-bounces at contesting.com] On Behalf Of Jim Worsham
>> Sent: Monday, April 18, 2011 5:12 PM
>> To: 'Fourlanders'
>> Subject: [Fourlanders] FW: [VHF] Gene's QST Column - Part 1
>>
>> I haven't seen my May QST yet but apparently Gene, W3ZZ has written
> something
>> very controversial about WSJT and other digital modes.  Anyone gotten
> their May
>> QST yet and seen it?  I am just curious what he said.  It looks like I
> quit the
>> VUAC just in time.
>>
>> 73
>> Jim, W4KXY
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: owner-vhf at w6yx.stanford.edu [mailto:owner-vhf at w6yx.stanford.edu] On
> Behalf
>> Of Marshall Williams
>> Sent: Monday, April 18, 2011 12:48 PM
>> Cc: reflector
>> Subject: [VHF] Gene's QST Column - Part 1
>>
>> Hello everyone....Gene's column this month in QST has taken me quite
> aback.  It
>> is filled with statements and ideas that I completely reject.
>>
>> Gene and I have "cussed and discussed" these topics quite extensively in
> the
>> past few years.  I thought I had "learned" the boy a thing or two, but I
> guess
>> not.
>>
>> The statement made by Ron-W3RJW, "What has taken me 45 years to scratch
> out with
>> tropo openings and scatter contacts can be wiped away in a single weekend
> using
>> computer to computer communications" is just plain FALSE(unless you only
> had a
>> handful of contacts to start with).  It is a "red herring" introduced by
> the
>> anti-digital folks to try to denigrate contacts made via WSJT.
>>
>> In the early days of WSJT, I made the argument that the EME awards should
> be
>> segregated.  This view was completely rejected by the various ARRL
> luminaries.
>> They decided that for ARRL and its awards, mode was not important....I
> think
>> that they were trying to protect DXCC, but in any case, that became the
>> "Official" stance.  I was duped into my "wrong" beliefs concerning WSJT by
> an
>> old time CW only op.  After operating WSJT EMEextensively, Ifound out how
> great
>> it was and I became a proponent not a detractor.
>>
>> WSJT is an addition to the "toolkit" that every VHF op should have.  It
> will
>> make contacts that cannot be made by the old SSB meteor scatter
> techniques.  It
>> will make EME contacts that cannot be made by the old CW techniques.  SO
>> WHAT???  You just add the WSJT contacts to the totals that you have gotten
> by
>> other means.  From here on 2M, I worked 41 states via "traditional" means
> and
>> the other 9 were worked via EME.  SO WHAT??  You have to have EME to work
> HI and
>> AK anyway.  Most important, you still have to get on and operate anyway.
>>
>> So, it is true that if you started from scratch and used WSJT, you would
> take
>> less than 45 years to work WAS, DXCC, or whatever.  But you certainly
> cannot do
>> it in one weekend.  The Anti-digital folks always fail to mention that it
> takes
>> a minimum of 5 minutes to complete an EME contact via WSJT.  I have had
> contacts
>> that took 45 minutes, just because signals were so poor.  WSJT meteor
> scatter
>> contacts often take 20-30 minutes to complete, depending on how many
> little
>> meteors are flying.  How many SSB contacts could you make in 5 minutes???
> or 45
>> minutes???  The Antis never mention that WSJT is a VERY SLOW mode.  No one
> would
>> use WSJT if CW or SSB was working.
>>
>> What is true about WSJT is that it has generated a level of activity that
> has
>> never been seen in the past.  In the "old days", it took forever to work
> the
>> various awards, because there were so few stations on the
> air....especially big
>> stations with high power and big antennas.
>>
>> You spent a lot more time trying to find someone in West Virginia that you
> could
>> run with than in actually working him.  It is the activity level that is
>> important, not the mode used.  Activity is more important than anything
> else.
>> Activity is KING!  WSJT allows small and medium stations to get in on the
>> activity.
>>
>> Currently, I am sitting on DXCC #99 on 2M.  This has taken me over 3 years
> to
>> accomplish and I am still not done.  I have to work one more AND get all
> the
>> cards in.  I should mention that I have one of the larger EME station in
> the
>> US.  Clearly, no one can accomplish DXCC(or any other major award) in one
>> weekend.  I should complete DXCC in a couple of weeks due to another FB
>> DXpedition to a rare country.  These DXpeditions exist because of the
> activity
>> created by WSJT.  Activity breeds more activity.
>>
>> This same argument was brought forth when SSB came along.  SSB was "too
> easy",
>> so it should be banned.  This was the wonderful forward thinking ARRL that
> came
>> up with that one.  Think of what SSB is today.  New modes come
> along....old ones
>> fade away.  Spark is gone...AM is essentially gone.  Such is life.
>>
>> The views of Ron and Gene on contesting are equally far from the mark.
>> I will address those topics in Part 2....
>>
>> 73 Marshall K5QE
>> ------
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