Comparing SO2R and assisted is not a fair analogy. Packet requires no skill,
involves the assistance of others and makes mult hunting the equivalent of
shooting fish in a barrel.
SO2R requires considerable skill, involves no outside assistance and makes
mult hunting EVEN MORE difficult as singly you must juggle numerous stimuli
while still making sense of what you're sending and what you're receiving,
often in both ears at once.
You can't buy SO2R, no matter how much money you throw at Yaecomwood and
WX0B. This notion that somehow you buy a second radio and all of a sudden
you're God's gift to contesting is patently false. It is very difficult. It
requires an operator to be highly proficient at all we hold dear. To
marginalize their efforts by forcing them into a secluded playing field is
to discourage excellence. Funny how you don't hear the Toronto Blue Jays
demanding that the New York Yankees be placed into a different category.
Now, creating an SO1R category that operators could voluntarily enter --
assuming they are indeed using only one radio -- gives an out to people who
choose, for whatever reason, to compete at a different level while
preserving the high standards of the main single op category. It's a
win-win. People who feel cheated by SO2R can now compete amongst like-minded
individuals while those who want to measure themselves against the best can
continue to do so. I suspect the majority of ops would remain in the main
category irrespective of how many radios they are running.
Remember the category refers to single OPERATOR. Even if he has three
radios, there's still just ONE operator.
> SO2R should be a category on its own, just like the "assisted" notion we
now
embrace as "logical."
Ford-NØFP
ford@cmgate.com
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