[VHFcontesting] Post-Contest Grid Square Queries

[Nate Duehr]

David Olean wrote:
>  I read the chess article on the web. Gosh there is a real parallel there 
> between the chess scenario, and the use of internet spotting etc for single 
> ops. If you use the internet then you are being assisted, but no one will 
> know without a judge in your shack. (usually)  I am sure that the prop 
> loggers are heavily used by all sorts of people during contests. I would 
> like to see no internet action for all contesters, single op and multi op. 
> It really takes the mystery out of the competition to have a prop logger 
> available. Sort of like using a chess program to analyze your move 
> beforehand.  Now we also have CW skimmer to deal with just like a computer 
> chess program! What will happen over the next few years in radio contesting? 
> At this rate, I hate to think about it.  An interesting book recently read 
> is "The Singularity is Near" by Ray Kurzweil. The next 25 years will be like 
> nothing else before in all of our endeavors.
> 
> 73
> Dave K1WHS

[Disclaimer: Don't take the long e-mail as looking like there's more 
emotion to this posting than there is.  I just type wicked fast so I can 
put down full thoughts in e-mails instead of three sentence conversations.]

There are many of us who've been using personal computers since prior to 
our teenage years out here Dave, who only see the addition of the Net 
and Information Technology as "extending the art".  We also love RF, but 
in the end, RF without the Net these days is boring.  Want to get 
younger folks?  Tie in the Internet.

I groused about this a couple of years ago... I had set up APRS in my 
rover and had shared with "techno-geeks" at work that they could follow 
my progress on an online map, after my co-workers saw the stack on the 
back of the Jeep.

I later found out that letting the APRS run, ignored, through any digis 
was "self-spotting" and not allowed.  Thus, I had to tell my friends 
that wanted to watch as spectators (and possible future hams) that they 
couldn't participate in the radio "sport" I was enjoying.

Every other sport has spectators.  VHF contesting, the only thing folks 
might be interested in watching is where you are and what you're 
working, if they know anything about RF at all.

The rules have changed now for some rovers, but now the question 
long-term has turned (in my mind) to the single operators.

Why can a multi-op use technology readily available and a single op 
can't?  Tradition?  Okay sure, I'll go with that.

But it's still weird to many of us who've used computers since 
childhood.  We don't see computers as "cheating" we see them as a useful 
addition to the shack -- and we know in a real emergency we'd have to 
use them for that, too.

Having a computer and knowing how to use it effectively to give useful 
information during a contest are two different things.  And knowing when 
to pay attention to the computer and when to pay attention to 
working/running a high Q rate, etc... is more important than whether or 
not the computer is feeding you information.

There's also interpretation -- not everyone knows what they're seeing 
even when they're staring at a screen full of information.  It's a 
skill, a different skill than RF operating, but still a skill that needs 
practice and knowledge.

Not only that, but sometimes some operator's basic computer skills are 
nonexistant, say -- like typing for one.  That skill comes with practice 
and more typing and makes the person a better op, too.

The "information overload" of computers in the shack bothers a lot of 
people either because they can't utilize the information correctly, or 
they feel nostalgic about the days before such tools.  But those aren't 
great reasons (they're okay, just not great) to keep computers and 
Internet out of contesting.

"Messing with the computer" when the bands are open is fruitless, as all 
good RF ops know.  But when conditions are poor, the multi-ops can do 
some spotting and digging that the single-ops can't do.  Why is that?

If the single-op has a crappy station or doesn't know how to manage 
their time effectively on the computer, they'll lose out just as much as 
they would by not paying attention to what's going on on the radio.

Allowing more spotting/Internet use would actually turn out to be a huge 
distraction for some who can't handle things like that.

The mystery is still there.  Just because the computer says everyone 
else is making those contacts, you still don't know if your station can 
do it.  You still have to make the QSO happen.

Just thoughts from the "I've had my own computer since I was 10 years 
old" guy, who started becoming interested in tech during the 8-bit, 1 
MHz home systems, during the initial personal computer boom when Jobs 
and Woz were still working out of their garage, and Gates hadn't yet 
gone to a sales meeting with IBM to sell them stuff -- he hadn't even 
written yet at the time of the meeting.

Nate WY0X