[RTTY] CQ-Contest SO2R

[Joe Subich, W4TV]

W6WRT writes: 

> You are making my point for me. My skill peaked long ago and nowdays
> my butt is getting whipped by the two radio guys every time. I don't
> mind losing on the basis of skill, but I don't like losing on the
> basis of hardware. 

That's the whole point ... you have decided that you no longer want 
to improve you skills to handle the demands of competitive single 
operator contesting and you want those who have done so kept out 
of your entry class.  

Pure and simple if you can buy your advantage in the form of an 
amplifier, you're all for it.  If you have to work for it and 
improve your skills you are "too old" to make the effort.  Bill, 
that's the most sick, cynical an misanthropic viewpoint anyone 
can have and reduced to nothing more than "I don't want 'their 
kind' in my neighborhood." 

> Right. I am very negative toward anything that harms RTTY and RTTY
> contesting. By the way, my eBay login is "rtty_forever" and has been
> for years. I am a diehard about RTTT and about RTTY contesting and I
> want what is best for the hobby. 

That's a load of crap.  Your attitude that says I don't want to compete 
with anything I don't like is what will harm RTTY, RTTY contesting and 
contesting in general.  Contesting in general has benefited immensely 
from both advances in technology and technique over the last 40 years. 
All of those advances - including the proliferation of SO2R - have made 
the operator more efficient and increased scores significantly.  At the 
same time they demand a lot more effort from any operator who wants to 
be competitive.  

If you don't want to compete, don't!  However, don't take that choice 
away from everyone else. 

> I don't mind getting whupped by a better operator. I don't like
> getting whupped by a second radio. 

You're not getting whupped by a second radio - the radio alone 
does nothing.  You're getting whupped by your own refusal to do 
what is necessary (particularly since you admit you have the 
hardware) to win.  It's not the SO2R operator or his "second radio," 
it's your defeatist attitude.  

> >Again, that how I see it, and perhaps I am wrong ... but I
> >am afraid I am closer to being right, and that saddens my
> >heart as I used to respect you as a great RTTY operator.
> 
> I haven't changed, Billy. Contestng has changed. 

No, contesting hasn't changed.  It is still about doing what it 
takes to do one's best given the available resources.  You have 
changed in that you are no longer willing to do what it takes to 
win.  Instead of rising to the competition, you want to make the 
faster runners wear lead sneakers ... you want those with keener 
hearing to wear ear plugs and those with greater dexterity to 
operate with one hand tied behind their backs.  

You want the whole world to feel sorry for you because you have 
given up.  Well, Bill ... that ain't the way the world works. 
Lead, follow or get out of the way but don't stand in the way of 
progress.