I was going to re-thread this as "Where's The Beef?"
In case you haven't noticed, all major "sporting" events have real-time
coverage. NASCAR/Daytona car drivers have on-board video cameras and are
in two-way radio contact with their pit crews (wouldn't this technically be
an "Assisted Driving" category? :-)
Football, Baseball, Basketball, Soccer, Hockey. et.al. ... every knows
EXACTLY where his or her competitors stand.
Oh gosh...I forgot...those are "Professional" sporting events, whereas Ham
Radio Contesting is "Amateur". Right. Sure.
So "Where's The Beef?"
In consideration off all the tremendous investment in SO2R equipment,
bigger "Aluminum Farms" and larger electrical power bills (No, I'm not
saying some Contesters run "over legal limit" ... cough, cough), I see
Contesting today vs. the 1960's about the same as comparing The Amazing
Race & Survivor today to Father Knows Best and My Three Sons of the past.
Unless more new Contesters enter the hobby, we are headed for
extinction. So why continue to live in the Dark Ages when so much more
adventure can be had in the Contesting journey which remains? Hi-Tech is
here to stay...Embrace it...Fondle it...USE it to the MAX to set new
Contesting records.
Yes, I can see yet another Monitor at Contesting Consoles...one which
displays "Real Time" (I should say "REALLY Real Time" compared to the K7C
DXA), where major competitor's rates per hour are in constant display
second-by-secnod alerting one to missed opportunities on other
bands. Green-Yellow-Red light sequences and alarm bells and blinking
indicators to be used to "shift strategy" based upon predefined parameters
to gauge what the competition is up to and where they are at any given
second. Options for sorting and prioritizing, etc. offer e-x-c-i-t-i-n-g
opportunities.
Hey guys...The ARRL SS, NA Sprint & other contests give us all "Real Time"
QSO tally data already (minus Mults) in the contest exchanges, so "Where's
The Beef?" Those who want to continue to live in a Contest Cave should
petition all Contest Sponsors to DELETE Serial # (QSO Numbers) from Contest
exchanges so you can have even more cluelessness as to what your
competition is doing. Then you can wait a year (or more) after the event
to sort it all out when the results are (hopefully) published. Oh...maybe
ask for sponsors to disallow SO2R while you're at it too.
In case you haven't noticed, we entered a "Brave New World" many years ago,
so...
Embrace it...Fondle it...USE it to the MAX to set new Contesting
records. The true "Professionals" are doing this every day in their
sporting events.
IMHO & 73...
Rick, K6VVA
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