[WWYC] [k4zw at verizon.net: Webinar - Team W4AAW Totally Remote Multi-Multi Contesting]

[Paul O'Kane]

On 05/11/2015 06:06, Fabian Kurz wrote:

> FYI
>
> ----- Forwarded message from Ken Claerbout <k4zw at verizon.net> -----
>
> Date: Wed, 04 Nov 2015 19:27:15 -0600 (CST)
> From: Ken Claerbout <k4zw at verizon.net>
> To: k4zw at verizon.net
> Subject: Webinar - Team W4AAW Totally Remote Multi-Multi Contesting
> Reply-to: k4zw at verizon.net
>
> The World Wide Radio Operators Foundation (www.wwrof.org) is pleased to sponsor the following Webinar - Team W4AAW Totally Remote Multi-Multi
> Contesting by Rowland Archer, K4XD.
>
> How in the world did a M/M contest station deliver a top ten finish
> with no operators in the shack? Team W4AAW has taken remote operation
> to the next level - fully automated M/M contesting. There's even a
> zero-cost client option. We'll explain how we did this, give you a
> taste of what it's like to operate a M/M station remotely, and tell
> how you can join us in exploring this new frontier in amateur radio
> contesting.

The fact that something can be done does not
necessarily mean there is merit in doing it.
And the fact that something is being done by
radio amateurs does not necessarily mean it is
amateur radio.

Team W4AAW, "operating" remotely, was no different
from the millions of people networked on the
internet, a commercial communications utility, and
fully dependent on it all at times for each and
every "QSO".

Each "operator" in Team W4NN was communicating with
other people who are radio amateurs. In their case,
however, the signal path was from the operator to
the remote transmitter to the QTH of the stations
"worked".

The portion of the signal path from each remote
operator to the transmitter was internet-hosted,
and the complete signal path (operator to operator)
was a composite of internet and amateur-band RF.
What has been lost, or abandoned, is the
communications independence that used to set us
apart from all others - we might as well use the
phone.

Why does this matter?  Well, as radio amateurs we
use amateur radio to communicate with one another.
If HOW we communicate no longer matters, we have no
right to describe ourselves as radio amateurs - we
are no different from anyone else.

It seems to me that remote contesting, as promoted
by K4ZW and the World Wide Radio Operators Foundation,
serves only to make a mockery of amateur radio in
general and amateur-radio contesting in particular.
The WWROF might be better described as the WWIOF.

73,
Paul EI5DI