Topband: LOTW Participation

[Julius Fazekas]

Hi Eddy,

One could argue when those quaint lowfer beacons first started that tape loops and the like were exotic. I do remember tape loops becoming a big deal in contesting, but for a newbie, they presented a cost obstacle. One can say the same for RTTY back in the day.

Pining for the old days, well we could have LORAN back too ;o)

The only constant in the world is change. I am not as fast to adopt some of the newer things, but I do see the various QSL options as a win-win situation for most.

I certainly understand and respect your position, and definitely enjoy vintage QSL cards (those folks had a pretty great sense of humor).

Cheers,
Julius

Julius Fazekas

N2WN



Tennessee Contest Group

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Tennessee QSO Party

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Elecraft K2     #4455

Elecraft K3/100 #366

Elecraft K3/100 #

--- On Fri, 2/17/12, Eddy Swynar <deswynar at xplornet.ca> wrote:

From: Eddy Swynar <deswynar at xplornet.ca>
Subject: Re: Topband: LOTW Participation
To: "Julius Fazekas" <phriendly1 at yahoo.com>
Cc: "Jeff" <w7jw at arrl.net>, topband at contesting.com
Date: Friday, February 17, 2012, 10:23 AM


On 2012-02-17, at 9:44 AM, Julius Fazekas wrote:

> Why not use 'em all? (LoTW, eQSL, ClubLog, hard card)
> 

Hi Julius,

Have you ever ventured forth onto the so-called "Lowfers Band" of 160- to 190-KHz, & listened for beacons...? I did, & one time I was rewarded with the thrill of hearing an "VE3"-based station. I was so amazed that I could copy the station despite the many restrictions conspiring against it that I actually built a beacon transmitter of my own here, & obtained special permission of our licensing body to put it on the air...

But that band's complexion has changed dramatically since that simpler time: the realities of the game now dictate that computer-controlled slow speed CW & associated software receiving / transmitting enhancements are "de riguer" anymore. Gone are the quaint---but readily copyable---CW "standard" beacons, many of which were driven by continuous loop tapes, notched 33 RPM record albums(!) mounted atop extra-slowplaying record players, etc. To be a viable participant anymore in that part of the spectrum necessitated a considerable commitment in peripherals that the curious & casual newbie simply is unprepared to invest, or even unaware of.

When I mentioned this fact to one prominent "guru" of the VLF scene---i.e. that the door is effectively being slammed shut upon the entry of "new blood" into that niche because of its "exclusiveness"---I was promptly reminded of the superiority of the "new way" of doing things, and that records for long distance reception were being laid by the wayside on an almost daily basis since its near-universal acceptance. 

What that guru failed to appreciate was the fact that his domain had suddenly become a closed one, limited to existing members of that "club"---and as demographics take hold & old members became SKs, there would be  precious few, if any, new replacements. 

Correctly or not, I view electronic confirmations like LotW & eQSL suspiciously. Are supporters of these any different from that "exclusionary" cadre of users who have abandoned CW beacons of yore on the "experimenter's band"? Surely the bug bit them when they first heard a beacon, just as doubtlessly the awards bug hit many of us when we received our very first QSL card. Why would anyone deny that thrill to a rookie Ham, dismissing it as being old-fashioned, when it inspired us oh-so-many years ago? An electronic notification is just not the same, IMHO...and it's hardly a much-loved tradition of Amateur radio---yet!

...But I'm doubtlessly showing my age in saying so!

Let the parade proceed---I'm quite content to just sit back & watch it from the sidelines.

~73~ de Eddy VE3CUI - VE3XZ
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UR RST IS ... ... ..9 QSB QSB - hw? BK