WARNING - LONG Re: [RTTY] Dayton RTTY Forum set.....

Mon, 25 Mar 2002 01:07:32 -0500

----- Original Message -----
From: "Bill Turner" <w7ti@dslextreme.com>
To: "Tom Moore" <wx4tm@mindspring.com>; "Frank J Fallon" <n2ff@juno.com>
Cc: <RTTY@contesting.com>
Sent: Sunday, March 24, 2002 8:01 PM
Subject: Re: [RTTY] Dayton RTTY Forum set.....

> What's amazing to me is the number of two-radio guys who refuse to
> compete only against each other.  It's like a guy with an Indy car who
> insists on racing against the family sedan.  Any class of racing can be
> fun, but only when the playing field is reasonably level and the winners
> and losers are not predetermined..

Meant directly, or just indirectly, this feels like it has my name on it.
When Frank asked me to be on the "SO2R panel" at the forum, I hesitated
because:

1.  I don't consider myself in the same contesting leagues as AA5AU and
K3MM.
2.  I don't like being/speaking in the "public eye" that well.
3.  I'm not sure I want to play the dunce role - er, neophyte.
4.  I KNEW THAT THE WHOLE SO2R ARGUMENTS WOULD SURFACE AGAIN WITH THAT
TITLE!

We all know that level playing fields are a bunch of crap.  Amps, towers,
antenna farms (literally), geographic location, whatever - Number of radios
is just one variable.  http://www.contesting.com/survey/70  Three years ago
I didn't know RTTY contesting from squat.  My XYL got me the WF1B program
for Christmas, and I was hooked with my first RTTY Roundup.  After a few
with that, I got WriteLog and found many new challenges.  I improved my
station quite a bit over the next three years, mainly with a single tower
and tribander, and later adding a vertical.

I think that there are 2 types of approaches to contesting out there.  One
is to just sit back and never strive to improve anything except maybe
operating time or technique.  If that's all you can do, that's fine.
However, it's reasonable to expect others that are able to try and do
anything within the rules to improve their contest FUN and performance.
Being naive to this whole subject, I mistakenly thought that the "approved"
improvement pathway included a second radio.

Perhaps like some SO2R critics that have never tried it, I thought maybe
SO2R was sort of a huge improvement.  "Heck, think of all those stations I
could work if I had a second radio."  Well, after trying it off an on for
awhile now, I still haven't improved my score using that "avantage".  In the
recent BARTG, I made a huge improvement in my personal best, from 600 or so
max QSOs previously to over 900.  Yes, I had a second radio hooked up, and I
made a few QSOs with it - 14 to be exact.  Yes, I feel comfortable operating
in the SOAB category with guys with 1 radio.  Anyone with one radio could
have done those extra 14 QSOs that I got, just by QSYing to a different
band/frequency and working a mult.  Or maybe they have a radio with 2
receivers - what the heck category is that anyway?  No, I didn't want to
enter SOE and compete head to head with Don et al.  However, I might have to
next year when the BARTG rules require the top ten to enter SOE.  Seems like
that should appease the critics, more or less.

I thought the whole idea of the forum was to help new and old guys that
might want to try SO2R.  My role was to have been to tell how it doesn't
have to be expensive or complicated, help explain some of the challenges,
and vouch for how SO2R can add to your contesting -FUN-, if not to your
score.  However, I STILL REMEMBER the email threads that followed the last
time this subject came up at the RTTY forum, and I warned Frank about
reaction to the SO2R subject matter for the forum.

Sorry Frank, I knew this was coming.  Although a few emails does not an
audience make, the debate and forum are just not worth it to me.  Dayton is
suppose to be fun (like contesting).  The SO2R debate goes nowhere and
detracts from the hobby/mode.  Who wants to be on a panel to try and
encourage people if they don't want to be encouraged?  I think I'd rather
just walk around outside, eat a few hotdogs, and get fat.  73 - Indy car
that loses to sedans most of the time!
------------------------------------------------------------
John - WA9ALS - VP5RY (2001)

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     email:  wa9als@starband.net
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