Topband: The Remote question

Sun Jul 12 16:47:14 EDT 2015

It's obvious the DXCC award system is not important to you by your own admission, which doesn't put you in the best of positions to be so vocal about paid/shared remote station access and its impact on the award systems.

Call it what you will it's very competitive...in an individualized sort of way but competitive it is.

It is a badge of honor for those passionate about such things.  Yes the guy with the $100,000 station most days has an advantage over the guy with 100 Watts and a wire...but some days the propagation Gods shine on the guy with 100 Watts and he beats the big bucks station out..also operator skill levels that playing field as well...you learn those things when that's all you have for a station.

Yes we have always faced those kind of challenges and no rule or class changes were really needed.  It was incentive to make your station the best it could be within your means and to improve your operating skills.

For contesters things were a bit better as the differences in station capability was recognized and different competitive classes were formed....so the guy with 100 Watts and a wire could feel a sense of accomplishment by competing with guys generally equipped like him.

In today's world where one could finally move into that swanky neighborhood that the wife has always wanted to live but couldn't because hubby needed space and acceptance to put up all those ugly wires, towers, antennas and such....no worries! (That's my wife...and we still don't live there)

We can pick up a radio front panel for a song and a smokin internet connection and just dial up whatever superstation has propagation to where the DX is today and bag em.  Just think about being able to get in on that E skip action anytime it happens just by dialing up a station that is in the skip zone today...and 160 DXCC...just dial around until you find a station that can hear that rare DX station that's on tonight.  The wall paper is piling up...

What's a traditional station OP to do...he's been working hard for years, building new antennas, buying commercial products and improving his station whenever he can, staying up late nights or getting up early mornings.  An expected normal progression for Ham Radio....he is close to finishing his DXCC on 160 and a guy that don't even own a station...or worse owns a small station but doesn't use it to work the hard ones, lands his first 100 on 160 in his first year of being on the air.

He throws up his hands and says what's the point...and certainly won't be buying any more commercial products to try and improve his station....and out of business go more of the commercial equipment makers.

Now...

I don't have a problem with technology and its advancement...I'm a technical guy.  But the advantages that paid or even shared remote station access allows should dictate that these OPs compete in their own class with others that are leveraging that advantage.

The exception to this is the guy that has built his station on a remote site on land he owns or leases for that purpose because he has noise issues he can't overcome or he lives in the subdivision with an HOA that won't allow his antennas, but he still wants to compete on the bands...that remote station is his primary station...it's just a traditional station accessed remotely by its owner...no problem....good use of today's technology.

You own property on three different coasts and one remote island and have stations on all of them....the new DXCC/Contesting class is ready made for you too...

I think new class structure language in the DXCC and various contest rules is the only viable answer...

Don't limit technology, adapt to it to allow its advancement but as it evolves allow the traditional station owner to continue to practice his kind of Ham Radio on a traditional playing field....fact is probably 90 percent of stations are traditional styled operations anyway.

Soap box mode OFF...

Cecil
K5DL

Sent using recycled electrons.

> On Jul 12, 2015, at 2:16 PM, W0MU <w0mu at w0mu.com> wrote:
> 
> I think much of the issue with RHR is people are bent out of shape that a group of people have jumped on this and appear to be doing quite well.  Business must be booming as they are adding new stations constantly.
> 
> Personally I have a decent station and am not interested in renting station time.
> 
> In the end the challenge is personal.  The award is whatever you make it.
> 
> DXCC is DXCC.  If you feel better that you worked it from the same location using wet noodles more power to you.
> 
> If you are chasing DX to impress other people I think you are doing it wrong.  When you focus on yourself and what you are doing then these little "issues" become non issues.
> 
> My Dad told me a long time ago in business was to quit paying so much about the other guy and start focusing on my business and what my strength were.
> 
> I have been a ham since 1978.  Honor roll number 1 mean very little to me.  What it says is that you have either been doing this longer than me, spend more time on the radio, have a better setup, etc.  It doesn't mean that you are a better DXer.  I hear so called big DXers in pileups calling endlessly with no clue about how pileups work etc.  Lots of great DXers are in and out of a pileup before you know it.  Many of those guys may or may not have DXCC.  I waited for over 20 years to apply for DXCC and the award is still in the tube..........
> 
> Be proud of yourself and what you have done.  The watering down of the award is in your head.
> 
>> On 7/12/2015 7:32 AM, nn4t at comcast.net wrote:
>> Good morning. I have followed with interest the discussion on this subject. I enjoyed hearing both sides of the issue from my fellow DXers. Most of the replies have been both thoughtful and respectful and I thank you for that.
>> I thought you may find it interesting to hear a comment from the perspective of an RHR user. Perhaps some of the others who comment also used that service (which seems to have triggered this debate) but I don't remember seeing that. I have been an RHR customer for two years. I have been a DXer for the entire 42 years of my amateur career. Climbing the DX Challenge ladder is my principal goal. I have a home station focused on 6, 80 and 160. 93.5% of the entities I need for the Challenge are on these three bands. I have a full sized quarter wave vertical for 160 (and 8 560 ' beverages), a 4 square for 80 and a 9 element M2 at 80' for 6. The station works well and has been productive. But as you know from 160 propagation is finicky. And for those who have not spent time on 6, it is even more so there. I rent the RHR stations because they give me more opportunities to work new ones for the Challenge. It is simply another tool I use to accomplish my goal. And unless the DXCC rul
> es
>>   change I will continue to do so. I appreciate, and respect, those who feel this somehow violates the spirit of the DXCC program. I simply do not agree.
>> Ham radio has always had a prickly relationship with technology. On one hand we love the cool gadgets and the hobby would die without them. On the other, it forces us to deal with change. Anyone remember the debate about using packet clusters to work DX? "Shooting fish in a barrel" was a common criticism of those who used that technology. Remember when there was a move to ban from DXCC credit qsos made on a list?
>> I suspect remote technology is here to stay; the ARRL BOD has already spoken once on that matter and were quite clear. What I would suggest is view this technology as simply a tool; available to all willing to pay the fee (just like our expensive radios, antennas, amps, etc.) . Use it or don't use it. The choice is yours. Best, Steve, NN4T
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