[RTTY] CQ-Contest SO2R

[Joe Subich, W4TV]

Jay, 

Putting aside all the other stuff ... 

> Anyone running N1MM or Writelog have these features
> available to them. And in fact, most of the "computer logging"
> software you mention is capable of performing these functions. 

Anyone running N1MM, Writelog, Win-Test, CTWin, etc. also have 
SO2R features available to them.  Just as some phone operators 
choose not to make the wave files necessary to use voice keying, 
not all operators choose to connect the added hardware (second 
radio) to do SO2R.  That's their choice.  

> You also have suggested that SO2R is just another tool and 
> equivalent to having a "voice keyer, memory keyer, Digital 
> Voice keyer, computer logging". I would submit that SO2R is 
> mostly skill.

I believe technique and hardware are interchangeable tools to 
maximize one's score.  AA5AU has used technique and one set of 
hardware (SO2R) to compete effectively against those who have 
chosen a different mix of technique and tools.  Why should one 
set of tools (antennas) to be allowed in any category while 
another set (SO2R) be relegated to a separate category?  Why 
should any operator be required to eschew one set of tools - 
particularly what you call a "skill" (that may have taken many 
years to perfect) - in order to participate in the largest and 
most competitive classification (single-operator)?    

> You also used the NFL football analogy, saying in essence that 
> we are all in one Big League, and all at the same level of 
> fitness, age, and human ability. I was a 225 pound linebacker 
> on a state championship team and gave many a quarterback a nice 
> big bear-hug and helped him attach turf-grass to his face-mask. 
> Should my skill-set be compared to the Pee-Wees? Do I want them 
> to?  In fact, you say, "you might as well start imposing 
> height/weight/speed/strength restrictions on those who play 
> in the NFL." But we aren't in the NFL. We _are_ in the Pee-Wee's,
> Gray-Y, Highschool, college, AND the NFL, all at the same time.  

The single operator category of any contest is already the NFL - 
or the "Open Championship" of the contesting world.  By separating 
SO2R and not big antennas or CW Keyers or operators who can send 
CW with both hands or operators who can type more than 60 WPM, 
you are simply saying to a portion of the "teams" in the league, 
you've become too good at kicking off - your kicker can't use his 
right (dominant) leg.  

Like golf, you don't prohibit a Tiger Woods from using his big 
driver just because some weekend hacker doesn't have one or 
hasn't mastered its use.  The hacker, if he chooses, can still 
enter the qualifier and take his shot.  He can use any legal 
equipment or skill that he posses in his quest to win the big 
one.  Now, he may never compete with Woods or the other elite 
players but he has entered the same tournament and he may even 
get as much (or more) satisfaction from doing his best even if 
he doesn't end up in the top 10 (or 20, 30 or even 100). 

> Anyone still running a Model 15? Got a paper log? Hardly. In 
> these areas the playing field is rather level without much 
> expense or effort. 

They may not be running a model 15 ... but there are a lot of 
beginners still running a KAM or PK232 with software other than 
the top of the line contest programs.  Some are still using 
a "terminal program" and logging on paper.  They'll probably 
advance ... heaven forbid, some may even advance to SO2R or 
build big antennas if doing so doesn't somehow single them 
out. 

I keep going back to Don's experience - not all operators can 
build big antenna farms.  Contesting is about using all of the 
tools and skill the operator can manage.  The better operators 
have always used skill - whether it be a better understanding 
of propagation, the ability to hear weaker signals, the ability
to copy more than one station at a time, or the ability to stay 
more alert - to outperform other operators with better hardware.  
It hasn't always been the biggest antenna farm or the newest 
rig, etc. that has taken the day.  Take away the ability to 
use skill, strategy, agility, etc. and you might as well turn 
the NFL into UFC because nothing more than raw strength and 
aggression will matter.  

Giving the little guy a chance to develop his own set of tools 
is the right way.  You don't want every player on a football 
team to be a 250 pound linebacker ... you need the 300 pound 
lineman,  the 4.3 tailback, the 6'8" wide receiver and the 
5'6" 160# place-kicker to have a complete team. 





> -----Original Message-----
> From: rtty-bounces at contesting.com 
> [mailto:rtty-bounces at contesting.com] On Behalf Of Jay Kloss
> Sent: Friday, September 14, 2007 4:45 PM
> To: RTTY Reflector
> Subject: Re: [RTTY] CQ-Contest SO2R
> 
> 
> So you are suggesting, Joe, with the opening line "Not again", that
> yours is the only opinion that has merit?  That with your implied
> eye-roll you presume to end a friendly debate among good friends? I'm
> sorry if the subject irritates you, but I am still interested in what
> others have to say on the matter. Maybe I missed out on last year's
> debate. Perhaps you should just sit back and chuckle and chalk this up
> up to "those wacky youngsters!"
> 
> Your argument suggests that this debate is about wanting to "limit the
> tools available to the operator". It is certainly not my point, and I
> can't find a posting that outright suggests that SO2R not be allowed
> under any circumstances. Some people might feel this way. But isn't it
> more likely that they are trying to say, "How about setting up a
> distinct category of operation that promotes and highlights the skill
> of these great operators? A category that _they_ would choose to
> compete in."
> 
> You also have suggested that SO2R is just another tool and equivalent
> to having a "voice keyer, memory keyer, Digital Voice keyer, computer
> logging". I would submit that SO2R is mostly skill.  I've heard it
> explained like this: "SO2R is like that creepy organ music tune you
> always hear some creepy guy playing in the creepy haunted house -- the
> "Toccata Fugue". There is a part in that tune where you are playing a
> triplet (three notes over and over again) on one hand, while at the
> same time alternating two notes on the other. SO2R is like _that_."
> Try it. Go 1-2-3, 1-2-3, 1-2-3 on one hand while doing 1-2, 1-2, 1-2
> on the other. Just like patting your head and rubbing your belly with
> the other. Skill, talent, whatever you want to call it. In SO2R the
> 2nd radio is certainly a tool. But the SO is the skill.
> 
> Speaking of tools, the examples you cite as tools ("voice keyer,
> memory keyer, and Digital voice keyer") are all the same thing
> performing the same function one way or another. Distilled, your two
> examples are "an automatic keyer" of some kind, and "computer
> logging". Anyone running N1MM or Writelog have these features
> available to them. And in fact, most of the "computer logging"
> software you mention is capable of performing these functions. Anyone
> still running a Model 15? Got a paper log? Hardly. In these areas the
> playing field is rather level without much expense or effort. But I
> agree that these things are tools. However, I maintain that running
> SO2R largely requires most excellent skills on the part of the
> operator.
> 
> You also used the NFL football analogy, saying in essence that we are
> all in one Big League, and all at the same level of fitness, age, and
> human ability. I was a 225 pound linebacker on a state championship
> team and gave many a quarterback a nice big bear-hug and helped him
> attach turf-grass to his face-mask. Should my skill-set be compared to
> the Pee-Wees? Do I want them to?  In fact, you say, "you might as well
> start imposing /height/weight/speed/strength restrictions on those who
> play in the NFL." But we aren't in the NFL. We _are_ in the Pee-Wee's,
> Gray-Y, Highschool, college, AND the NFL, all at the same time.
> 
> You also say that you are certain that "...they don't care who their
> competition is - ". I can assure you from my first-hand acquaintance
> with a number of amazing hardcore, big-bat-swinging contest-smashing,
> SO2R-ing ACG and SECC dogs that they do indeed know who their
> competition is -- because they have risen to that level of skill. They
> win contests, and heartily call for a worthy opponent.
> 
> Let me again adopt the tone of my first note on this subject, and see
> if I can convey my abject appreciation at how great the SO2R guys are
> for using their skills to achieve such amazing heights of contesting
> excellence by asking, "Wouldn't it be great if there was a special
> distinction, a notable partitioning of our most skilled
> radio-athletes, a lofty bar set high and apart for the likes of our
> greatest champions, upon which they would test themselves amongst each
> other, to their satisfaction, and our wonder?"
> 
> Perhaps they themselves will call for a category worthy of their
> fellow SO2R opponents.
> 
> 73 de Jay, N4CBK
> Auburn, AL.
> Alabama Contest Group
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