[SEDXC] Contest Scoring

[Bill Coleman]

On Jun 25, 2007, at 2:17 AM, Jeff Carter wrote:

> In other words,
> rather than being exclusionary to the number of hams that no longer  
> speak
> Morse, it is an attempt to be fair to everybody, and nobody can  
> argue with
> that.

Further, this "exclusionary" stuff is just an illusion. It is no more  
difficult today to learn and master Morse than it was decades before.  
Just because the regulations no longer require it doesn't make  
learning morse any more or less difficult. The obstacles are the  
same, even if the incentives have shifted.

> My first license was in 1992 in the Tech reshuffling, and for 15 or  
> so years I
> listened to how I wasn't a "Real Ham" because of a rule change I  
> knew nothing
> about.

Yea, there are some folks who do that.

>   Then in February, because I am an engineer, and the code barrier was
> removed, it was simple to upgrade to Extra, but the online Ham  
> community was
> up in arms again against folks who were merely following the law  
> after a rule
> change.

Yeah, they do that....

>   I have been totally confused by this just as I was in 1992, and
> confused by the torch-and-pitchfork position taken by the online Ham
> community when I had expected a sense of joy on behalf of the  
> community that
> the Tech contingent (the largest by number, still today) would  
> begin to
> spread out a bit and replace the SK folks, of which there were  
> pages and
> pages in QST.  It doesn't take much to imagine that *all* of our  
> positions
> are stronger if there are more folks who are licensed in the ARS.   
> Every
> voice in the choir is important, in other words.

Two important points: 1) the vocal minority that you find on the  
internet that grouses about the "dumbing down" of the regulations,  
etc does not represent the viewpoint of amateurs at large. Your best  
strategy may be to completely ignore these trolls. 2) even though  
Technicians are the vast majority of amateur radio licensees, they  
aren't necessarily the most active in the amateur community. Many of  
those Old Timers have been active for many decades, so their  
involvement shouldn't be dismissed lightly.

> I largely ignored things said in 1992 because I was only a Tech  
> after all, but
> now I'm an Extra and I don't think it behooves anyone with the  
> highest class
> of license to be ignorant about any facet of the hobby that he/she  
> should
> reasonably be expected to know, and so to this end I had decided to  
> ask for
> the snippets that I don't possess.

Good attitude.

In flying, we always say that a pilot's license is a license to  
learn. The smart pilot is always looking for what each flight (or  
attempts at flight) can teach him -- so he can become an even better  
pilot.

> It was never my intention to offend anybody, and I really do  
> believe that
> everything that needs to be said about how awful and unfair the  
> removal of
> the CW requirement was has been said at least 100 times over.

Again, the vocal minority has probably overplayed this.

> We're going to know electrical engineering but we're not going to  
> know, for
> example, why we're seemingly penalized in contests for not knowing  
> Morse.

Perhaps it is this defensive attitude that triggers the whole  
cascade. Although the defensive position is likely enforced from the  
vocal minority above.

Maybe, instead of looking at the issue as a "penalty", one could look  
at it as an opportunity to learn something new.

> We need law-abiding, innovative, and involved folks to come in and  
> stay,
> because they create the backbones of things we'll all use and  
> they'll become
> the Elder Statesmen when we're gone.

Well said!

> If it is not a breach of protocol, I'd like to publically thank  
> Chaz/W4GKF for
> his willingness to sponsor me in joining the club on the basis of a  
> few off
> the cuff reflector questions.  I appreciated that, and my  
> application has
> been forwarded for review.

Now you have to get busy and work some DX....


Bill Coleman, AA4LR, PP-ASEL        Mail: aa4lr at arrl.net
Quote: "Not within a thousand years will man ever fly!"
             -- Wilbur Wright, 1901