[SEDXC] Contest Scoring

[Carl]

I have been following the Contesting Scoring discussion with very mild 
interest, but I believe it is time to insert my opinion.  Hi hi.
I got on PSK and it works great!  However, I don't find it to be fun.  I 
am not sure why, but I like RTTY and CW the best and everyone knows that 
I am NOT a CW guy.  Is it because it is the computer doing it instead of 
me?  73, Carl

David Thompson wrote:

>A dozen years ago I sat on an airplane near Colin Powell's son who was then
>FCC Chairman and next to a ham/engineer who had sold all his gear a few
>years earlier.  The ham/engineer asked me if hams still used (in his words)
>antique modes such as CW, SSB, or RTTY.  When I said yes Mr. Powell became
>interested and soon I was outnumbered and outgunned.  Their argument
>centered on amateur radio had always led in new modes.
>
>We always talk about CW being able to get through when other modes won't.
>But PSK31 can get through when no signal is readable to the ear!  Plus most
>PSK31 users run low power or QRP.  The problem is that there are so many
>variations of PSK and other digital modes (CW and RTTY are also digital)
>that most of us are confused and find contacts are hard to make.  Plus I
>mentioned PSK on one of the digital reflectors and I got blasted.  Reminds
>me of the AM versus SSB of the late 1950's.
>
>Steve Ford, WB8IMY QST Editor and Digital guru agrees that the tower of
>Babel must be solved before we can make real progress.  Even digital voice
>has two different approaches..a home brew one and one pushed by Manufacturer
>AOR.
>
>I wonder what the DOD/Military uses now that CW is banished?
>
>As to scoring we have come full circle.  In the 1950's you ran low power to
>win the ARRL SS as phone carried a 1.5 mult and CW 1.25.  Plus in the ARRL
>DX you had quotas per country on CW but none on phone (then mostly AM).
>
>The mode that has expanded rapidly is RTTY.  As N4ZZ tells me you get a
>screen full of callers and you pick the one you want.  Sound like you can
>turn the receiver sound off and just use the keyboard!
>
>I think ARRL wants to encourage CW which still requires much simpler gear
>(W7DRA enters the CQ WW 160 CW using a modified DX-20).  But as K4UEE points
>out you can make more Q's on SSB per hour.  But if N4ZZ is right maybe RTTY
>is the place to be.
>
>just my two cents worth!
>Dave K4JRB
>
>
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