[TenTec] SOFTWARE at WRTC

Fri Jul 25 17:43:44 EDT 2014

SRI Ron, you are WAY OUT THERE!

First of all, the WIN-TEST authors didn't write their software for any rig.
They wrote an API for omnirig.
Omnirig gave them compatibility to a hundred radios.  (roughly)
With one single driver on their side, they automatically have access to a hundred radios or more.

Unfortunately Omnirig doesn't support the Eagle.

Next, I'm not talking about getting an invitation to join some local contest team.
I'm speaking of joining a team of teams that has broken ever record there is to break and consistently, more than any other team wins the team contesting championship.

"We" (you and I) cannot dictate our wishes to operations like that.  They are well defined and will achieve their goals with or without us.  Our only choice is to be a part of it or not.

I think you are thinking in a lower league than I'm referring to.
I'm not speaking about joining a group that wants to win the contest.
I'm talking about joining a team that wants to win the team contesting trophy.
A team that is not satisfied unless they hold the world record.
This means scoring the most points in all the contests, all year long.
It's a major endeavor.  It's not a hobby anymore.
(and I don't like it anymore)

I dropped out of that league because it was no fun anymore.
They were taking things too serious.
I prefer contesting with my Eagle.
I'm still a club member and they get my points to help them towards their goal, but it's reached the point that it's over the top.  It's not a hobby anymore.  It's a passion.

You have misunderstood the problem with the Eagle.
John Henry's proposal came today.
The omnirig problem is 3 years old and I have been fighting it to no avail.
The writers of Omnirig just don't want to be bothered to do a driver for the Eagle.
They told me to write it myself or find someone to write it for me.
I tried and failed.

73 - Rick, DJ0IP
(Nr. Frankfurt am Main)

-----Original Message-----
From: TenTec [mailto:tentec-bounces at contesting.com] On Behalf Of Ron Notarius W3WN
Sent: Friday, July 25, 2014 8:27 PM
To: tentec at contesting.com
Subject: Re: [TenTec] SOFTWARE at WRTC

“Poor choice” on your part or mine? (Not trying to give you a hard time, I just want to make sure I didn’t misspeak)

That touch of kidding-around aside…

Of course, what is the “best” radio is a very subjective thing these days. Size, shape, other ergonomics, manufacturer/brand loyalty, filter selection... all are factors. The ideal radio for one event may be worth bupkus in the next.

Speaking only for myself, I’ve tried a lot of rigs. (It helps that I have a friend who also cycles through a lot of rigs, which is how I ended up with that Omni VII, but I digress.) I haven’t tried them all, and I certainly don’t claim to be an expert. Given the choice between a K3 and an Eagle, for solo operating on my own, it would be the Eagle hands down. I just plain like it better. 

Now if I had an Eagle (I wish, but with a Corsair II, Omni VI+, and Omni VII in the shack these days… plus an old PM2B for QRP… there’s no room for it, and I don’t need another rig collecting dust – I have a Swan 3Drifty for THAT), and I was politely informed by a team contest crew that had invited me that I wasn’t to bring it… well, I’d probably go elsewhere. I don’t think one should rule out using one of (if not the) hottest receivers on the market these days because someone else determines that one top-level rig is that superior to another. Clearly others feel differently, and more power to them. I just think if you’re inviting ops, and inviting those who can to bring their own gear, you need to both be flexible and try and accommodate the best rigs you can get your hands on.

Yeah, that’s also theoretical. I don’t think I’ll ever see an invitation like that ever again, at least not for anything within driving distance. With a daughter a year out from college, that’s about as far as I can afford to travel these days.

I get that sometimes the team players have to set aside personal preferences on behalf of the team. But one should not do so blindly, nor do so in a way that handicaps you. And one has to wonder if the team is truly looking out for their own best interests, or if the team leader has their own agenda or ulterior motive, that is being hidden behind the “team” concept. (I can think of more than a few people who would just as soon prefer to still run a M/S or M/M station on nothing but Drake C-Line with all the mods, to the exclusion of anything else). Sometimes the worst thing you can do, for both you and the team, is “take one for the team.”

Now, WRT the software situation… OK, I understand that a developer only has so much time. And I can understand that a given software team may hesitate to constantly write new code for new radios… even so, new radios come on the market somewhat frequently, and you can’t always assume that they’re backward compatible with the older models they replaced. 

But if I recall correctly, you mentioned (or if not you, someone did) that one of the problems that the Win-Test developers had with adapting their software to the Eagle was that they didn’t have access to one. Well, John Henry has made the offer. From what he says, it should be an easy implementation. (Heck, if I was using the software, I’d take him up on that – free use of an Eagle for a few weeks while putting together an INI file? Almost too good to pass up… but I don’t use the software…) So, how do we make the developers aware of this offer? And will they follow up with it, or was that merely a convenient excuse?

Finally, no, I’m not really a sports car buff. I do like watching them run at the Vintage Grand Prix though. My flag corner doubled this year for the “patron charity rides” between practice/race sessions; they used three Mini Coopers, and BMW sent an M4 from their drivers school in South Carolina, along with one of the instructors. (Even gave us all at the corner a nifty hat). Two things I got from watching him drive that M4 all weekend… (1) man! Is he a fantastic driver, and (2) there is NO WAY you’d get me in a car with that speeding lunatic… and I mean that in a good way…

73, ron w3wn

On 07/25/14, Rick - DJ0IP / NJ0IP wrote:

Ron, that was perhaps a poor choice of words.

I regularly get invited to one of our many teams.
I think that's because most of the guys remember the old Rick and don't realize that I'm an old man now.
In all honesty, if I took them up on their offer, I would probably disappoint them.

If I should decided to get back into team contesting, then I would want to perform as best as I can and in order to do that, I need to become familiar with the radio I would be using. Usually a K3 (now days). 

Of course I could keep my Eagle but there is no way they would ever allow an Eagle on site at one of our team contesting stations. At least not at any of the serious ones. Keep in mind, we have about 400 members in our club and tens of contest stations.

So if my goal was to join a team again, YES, I would definitely choose my second favorite radio in order to prepare myself for the Olympics.

That's all theoretical because I don't think I could deal with the stress of a serious team effort any more. I prefer to contest on my own and sleep when I want to, not when the schedule says I have to.

Or in other words, I would rather keep my Eagle than have to buy a K3 to prepare for team contesting.

Ron, if I remember correctly, you are a sports car buff.
Back in the 60's the best formula one driver in the world (IMO) was Stirling Moss.
He was never the world champion because he refused to drive any car that wasn't British.
He could have gotten a seat in the Ferrari team, but he refused.
Thus he never made it.
The next driver to achieve that was Jimmy Clark, several years later.

Team players have to put their personal preferences aside and do what the team demands.

73 - Rick, DJ0IP
(Nr. Frankfurt am Main)

-----Original Message-----
From: TenTec [mailto:tentec-bounces at contesting.com] On Behalf Of Ron Notarius W3WN
Sent: Friday, July 25, 2014 5:29 PM
To: tentec at contesting.com
Subject: Re: [TenTec] SOFTWARE at WRTC

So you would sacrifice (IMHO, having used both) the better of the two radios for the sake of the team?

...granted, both are excellent rigs, so it may not be a HUGE sacrifice.
Still...

73, ron w3wn

On 07/25/14, Rick - DJ0IP / NJ0IP wrote:

I'm not sure what a "serious casual relationship" is.

I think you'll find most participants are also members of contest teams and they tend to run what other team members run.
As such, this can potentially limit your selection of radios.

I use WIN-TEST because that's what my club chose.
The Eagle won't play right with WIN-TEST so I could never take it to a team contesting site.

If I were still actively participating in Team Contesting, and could only have one radio, I would sell the Eagle and buy a K3. The software DOES affect your hardware choice if you are a team player.

73 - Rick, DJ0IP
(Nr. Frankfurt am Main)

-----Original Message-----
From: TenTec [mailto:tentec-bounces at contesting.com] On Behalf Of K8JHR
Sent: Friday, July 25, 2014 4:37 PM
To: Discussion of Ten-Tec Equipment
Subject: Re: [TenTec] SOFTWARE at WRTC

I don't see a serious causal relationship here. I doubt anyone selected his competition radio because it works with a particular logger ... 
instead, I expect they selected their favorite rig, and then selected a logging program that works with it.

It would be a case of the tail wagging the dog to think otherwise.

--------------------- JHR -------------------------

On 7/25/2014 1:59 AM, Rick - DJ0IP / NJ0IP wrote:
> (John Henry, I hope you read this!)
> WINTEST: 40

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