[RTTY] Fwd: Re: Digital DXCC or ARRL Board of Directors, respectfully: have my strong disagreement

Tue Aug 2 16:49:16 PDT 2011

No Joe, Its NOT inevitable.

It was a Choice somebody made.
Its equivalent to the PHONE award being changed to VOICE.

And I wonder how far that would get.

73, Mike WB9B

On 08/02/2011 6:40 PM, Joe Subich, W4TV wrote:
>    >   I agree.  This is a mistake.  RTTY is a fundamental and historical
>    >   mode.  CW, SSB, RTTY.  Dropping it in favor of a generic Digital tag
>    >   does not provide proper respect for a core mode.
>
>  While I also mourn the loss of the "RTTY" DXCC, it is a change that is
>  inevitable.  Even the "SSB" DXCC is not "SSB" DXCC - it is "Phone"
>  DXCC (check your certificates if you have one and look at the DXCC
>  page on the ARRL web site.  Just as the "RTTY" (now "Digital") DXCC
>  accepts confirmations using a wide variety of digital encoding -
>  from IAT2 ("RTTY") in various data rates, to PSK, QPSK, AMTOR/PACTOR,
>  at their various rates to "strange" modes like MFSK, JT-modes, etc.
>  so to does the "Phone" DXCC accept many forms or analog modulation
>  - from double sideband with carrier "AM" to SSB, FM, and even SSTV
>  and probably digital voice.
>
>  "RTTY" has not been an accurate name for the RTTY DXCC for many - maybe
>  20 (?) years.  I'm sure there were as many complaints from many of the
>  old-timers when the "AM" DXCC was changed to "phone" - certainly there
>  were complaints when confirmations using "SSB" were first accepted
>  (after all, SSB had that 10 dB advantage over AM - it was unfair).
>
>  I am happy my "Digital" DXCC says RTTY and I don't intend to change it
>  - but it's time to recognize what has been happening for a long time.
>  Several of my confirmations are digital modes other than ITA2 - even
>  though I've worked all of the entities using "RTTY" - since some of
>  the "RTTY" operators simply would not QSL over the years while newer
>  "digital" operators don't seem to be so pecuniary!
>
>  73,
>
>       ... Joe, W4TV
>
>
>  On 8/2/2011 6:47 PM, Jeff Blaine wrote:
>>  I agree.  This is a mistake.  RTTY is a fundamental and historical
>>  mode.  CW, SSB, RTTY.  Dropping it in favor of a generic Digital tag
>>  does not provide proper respect for a core mode.  I can see something
>>  (also traditional) like SSTV being logically called Digital.   But
>>  this is a minor mode as is PSK and all the other digital variants.
>>
>>  RTTY because of it's fundamental place in radio history, strong use
>>  in modern times, and huge growth rate, deserves to remain a separate
>>  category.  I can only believe that the league did not have an
>>  adequate understanding of the prevalence of RTTY when considering
>>  their vote otherwise they would have left RTTY as a separate and
>>  distinct entity.
>>
>>  73, Jeff ACØC www.ac0c.com
>>
>>  -----Original Message----- From: iw1ayd Sent: Tuesday, August 02,
>>  2011 5:32 PM To: rtty at contesting.com Subject: [RTTY] Digital DXCC or
>>  ARRL Board of Directors, respectfully: have my strong disagreement
>>
>>  Hi to all.
>>
>>  Just to read the doc abou and not my personal opinion go there:
>>
>>  http://www.arrl.org/files/file/About%20ARRL/Board%20Meetings/2011%20Second%20MeetingMinutes%281%29.pdf
>>
>>    ( Take care of the URL line fragmenting and about the dead space
>>  representation as %20 )
>>
>>
>>  Abstract from "Minutes of the 2011 Second Meeting - ARRL Board of
>>  Directors - July 15-16. 2011"
>>
>>  29. On motion of Mr. Fenstermaker, seconded by Mr. Edgar, the
>>  following resolution was ADOPTED: WHEREAS the DX Advisory Committee
>>  (DXAC) was charged to investigate many aspects of the ARRL DX
>>  program; and WHEREAS Amateur Radio technology has advanced to include
>>  many variations of digital communication; and WHEREAS the DXAC has
>>  recommended changing the DXCC Award category from RTTY to Digital or
>>  RTTY/Digital or Digital Mixed; and WHEREAS the Programs&    Services
>>  Committee (PSC) deliberated this change and, along with ARRL staff
>>  believe the best revised name for this award is Digital DXCC, and
>>  WHEREAS, the ARRL thanks the DXAC for its work on this name change;
>>  Therefore, it is RESOLVED that the ARRL Board accepts the
>>  recommendation of the PSC to change the title of the RTTY DXCC Award
>>  to the DIGITAL DXCC Award.
>>
>>
>>  What to say, there are no reasons nor facts by any means about the
>>  decision taken inside that document, as seen here in the abstract.
>>  The phrase " WHEREAS Amateur Radio technology has advanced to
>>  include many variations of digital communication ...", tells by
>>  itself all. Technology have changed a lot since the radio was only
>>  used for CW, sparking or funk (DL), in the meantime, since than and
>>  until quite now, there weren't changes in the radio technologies,
>>  accordingly to this 2011 sentence: unbelievable.
>>
>>  So, RTTY was RTTY, Phone was Phone and CW was CW. Now, 2011, the
>>  silliest and subtle discovery that whatever is not Phone or CW must
>>  be called Digital, like several appliances we have on hands or at
>>  home. So CW, a digital mode by default and by any mean, will remain
>>  unDigital as Phone, they couldn't could not be assimilated. RTTY,
>>  that by itself haven't any remarkable nor visible soul as Phone o CW,
>>  instead will be fully assimilated. Yes like the Star Trek saga, "Any
>>  resistance will be futile ...". In the movie that was a nice
>>  characterization, now it is only an awful envision at best.
>>
>>  Instead to clearly change anything, i.e. adding a Digital DXCC award
>>  - yes why not, now we are all assimilated as Digital Borg. Worst,
>>  leaving out more than half of the world that is already digital since
>>  than. The sacred soul of CW and its big weapons. Playing  between
>>  presence or absence of a single signal and coding signs accordingly
>>  mean enough digital to my, any(?), eyes and my ears, but I would not
>>  start a religious discussion there. All the old DEC self instruction
>>  tapes have already made this point strong enough in the NRZ signals
>>  chapter, almost 35 years ago (just the clock/timing recovering may
>>  seems to gets out of the picture ... fuzzy or not fuzzy). Well done,
>>  another foot in the grave and nobody know how many of those we have
>>  to spare.
>>
>>  Nemo propheta in patria.
>>
>>
>>  73 de iw1ayd Salvo
>>
>>
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