[TenTec] Rigs at WRTC

[K8JHR]

On 7/25/2014 5:49 PM, Rick - DJ0IP / NJ0IP wrote:
> James, I repeat slowly so that you can take notes:
>
> T H E   R I G   M U S T   O N L Y   B E   G O O D   E N O U G H.
>
> Nobody says the rig doesn't matter.
> But the best rig doesn't help win, either.
> ____________________________________________________


RICK - You cannot be serious.  You cannot possibly say that with a 
straight face after all the debate about what constitutes the best 
contest radio.  YOU ARE CLEARLY CORN-FUSED.  AND, yes, SOMEONE DID 
intimate the rig does not matter.

Let's keep this in perspective.  Someone posted the list of radios used 
at WRTC for a reason.  Why? TO MAKE A POINT about those radios. 
Otherwise, why bother?

We can only surmise the real purpose, but I submit he posted the list 
because a majority of contestants chose K3s, and so this would promote 
the K3 as the rig of choice among world class contestants.  He surely 
did NOT intend to promote ICOM or TenTec radios!

BUT ... IT BACKFIRED.

Notwithstanding a majority of hopefuls selected the K3 in advance, 
ultimately the top three winning teams used 5 ICOM rigs and one K3.

	This is not good really news for Elecraft.

Bob says only 16 % of K3 made it to the winner's circle, but the big 
news is a much larger 33 % of the ICOM radios in the game made it.  That 
means a majority of the losers used K3s, and the rest used something 
else.

Now, when this was mentioned, the poster attempted to rehabilitate his 
position by suggesting the rig is, after all, irrelevant, because it all 
turns on operator skill.

OK... if that is true, then the list of radios used in the contest has 
no relevance, and proves nothing at all.  There would be no point in 
posting it.  But, if one claims it does prove something, then it proves 
the winners used ICOM radios, and the losers used more K3s than any 
other radio.  Again, not a good day for Elecraft.

So...

	If the rig is really immaterial, as you claim,
	then STOP TALKING ABOUT WHAT RIGS WERE USED
	IN THE CONTEST - there is no point in talking
	about anything that could not affect the outcome.


Does anyone really buy this line of palaver?  I sure don't.

Let's face it, HAMS DO CARE what radios the winners used.  The guy who 
posted the list thinks so, or he would not have posted it.  Come on, you 
guys have been debating what constitutes the best contest radio for 
years, and it would be totally disingenuous to NOW claim the rig does 
not matter.  You cannot say that with a straight face after all that has 
passed on this reflector.

Yes, Hams DO consider the radio rig an important factor in determining 
the winner.   Moreover, every contestant selected the best radio he 
could get his hands on.  The winners cared enough to pick ICOM rigs over 
any other rig.  And we all know that.  Let's be intellectually honest 
and admit we really ARE interested in what rig won the day, and in this 
case ICOM stole the freq-ing show!

But the, again, let's also be honest and concede he posted the list to 
promote the Elecraft product, and intended to rub that in our faces here 
on the TenTec reflector.  But it backfired and ended up promoting ICOM, 
instead.

Common, of course we think the radio matters.

Consider this analogy:  Ferrari cars win the top three places at Monte 
Carlo.  Does anyone ever say the car does not matter, because the race 
was won strictly upon driver skill and good fortune?   Really?   NOT.

Not that I care, but everybody who watches TV knows what brand underwear 
Michael Jordan likes, but NOBODY knows or cares what the third string 
players wear as they ride the pine.

Would you claim it does not matter what brand clubs Tiger Woods uses? 
OR what brand shoes Lebron wears.  Or what sports bra Skylar Diggins 
wears?   Really?  Try telling that to Nike, who writes the checks to 
sponsor them.

So it is incredible (to me, anyway) anyone would seriously say the rig 
used by the champions is does not matter.

	IF THE RIG DOES NOT MATTER, then STOP TALKING
	about which is the best contest rig.

	IF IT DOES MATTER, then this list serves to
	promote ICOM and NOT ELECRAFT as the rig of choice
	among winners at the WRTC this year.

	And I am sure that is not the conclusion we
	were supposed to draw when he published the
	list.

OK, so, let's move on to something more logical and get
back to talking about TenTec gear.  OK?

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