[WWYC] About wwyc dx net.

[Greg Fox]

I hope we all can be careful with how we approach new
ideas coming from our membership. Of course all of us
have views on DX nets, some of us might like them,
some of us might not. However, we should voice these
in a way that doesn't sound elitist or we will just
become another one of those hollier than thou contest
clubs that some of us really don't see being worth our
time. 

I believe WWYC is about embracing all, growing the
membership, and growing the members. Since we claim
that we are a youth club, of course we are going to
have ideas which are fresh, at times youthful, and
others already tried but not realized because of the
lack of exposure to the hobby. 

Many of us frown on DX nets because we feel they
introduce bad operating habits. These include calling
with the 'last two' of your callsign to be on the
list, unfair frequency 'ownership', and an uneven
chance at the DX in a unrealistic radio environment. 

I'm sure many emails have been written on this, but
working DX generally means becoming a good operator.
Trying to find new ones on DX nets usually doesn't
foster the knowledge required to work rare entities
when they come on. They won't be following the same
format. Furthermore, you will never find the same
conditions that exist during a net in a contest. 

But honestly, I really think the main part of radio is
to have fun. If being on a DX net is fun for you, do
it. If shouting into the microphone, or typing on the
keyboard as CW goes into your head at 45wpm, then do
it. If turning off the radio completely and finding a
new hobby is actually more useful to your life, I
suggest that as well. This is all about balance, and
we need to keep it. 

Regardless, this is all fun, and we need to be careful
to becoming like all the rest, unless that is what we
want to be. Let's make WWYC.net, the mailing list, all
our activies positive and worthwhile. I extremely hate
to see flames going back and forth. It alienates new
operators, makes us look like we are not what we claim
to be, and hampers the word of mouth we have going for
us. 

73 Greg/KE9R

[ I apologize for this badly carriage returned email,
SBC Mail mangles it and I can't make it normal. ]