I was really afraid this would happen and it has. My comments were
misunderstood. I completely agree with your comment about setting a newbie
down at a big contest station. Its exactly what is being done by this
contest group in CA. There's NOTHING wrong with that! I think its great.
I think its a fantastic way for a newbie to get involved.
My "bitch" as you call it is about the rules, not the people exploiting
them. N6NB has taken rule exploitation to an extreme level with his loaner
boxes and caravan operation. What he is doing is within the rules.
Therefore, the rules need changed. I apologize if I was not clear on that
point.
Please don't think that I am opposed to getting help and elmering from
other's who have gone before you. I'm also a beneficiary of that and will
again in the future.
The difference in this situation seems pretty clear though, but perhaps its
not as clear from your perspective. Handing a newbie a turnkey station,
along with a complete operating plan and having them follow a caravan is
something very different than helping a new rover set up and test a
station. Its the difference between a newbie sitting down at a big contest
club's multi-op station and an elmer coming in and helping them get started.
The N6NB crew is a roving multi-operator station. They've done it under the
rules. I just think the rules need changed to address that reality.
Steve
On Mon, Feb 9, 2009 at 3:19 PM, Nate Duehr <nate@natetech.com> wrote:
> -----Original Message-----
>
> Finally, I think a disservice has been done to a new operator. W6TAI may
> well be gifted and could have a bright future with VHF contesting. The
> truth is though, that she will likely have the highest score as a Limited
> Rover without ever having put a station together. Don't you see anything
> wrong with that?
>
> ---------
>
> I don't. A new person is now interested in an extremely small facet of the
> hobby, and is probably another new advocate of keeping our bands above VHF.
> We'd have to ask her, and attacking a new ham's activities on a national
> mailing list without them here to defend themselves seems ultra-rude,
> anyway.
>
> My rover scores in 2006 and 2007 wouldn't have happened without help from
> the entire team at W0KVA. Working together means we end up in each other's
> driveways, mounting antennas, working on cables, and generally getting ALL
> of the participants who want help -- up and going.
>
> She still had to operate that station, no matter how you slice it. And
> someone had to recruit her to do it, show her the logging software, how to
> operate the station, etc. She had to show interest. Most people who show
> interest in operating, eventually learn more. She LEARNED something in the
> process and added more signals to our ridiculously quiet bands.
>
> That all seems "good" to me, and in line with the contest's STATED goals.
> More people OPERATING the upper bands.
>
> If the contest goal was about what you can build, then you can make the
> argument. Personally, I think the contest is about "get anything you can
> on
> the air on any band VHF and above, by hook or by crook and operate your a**
> off to make contacts" -- which is like almost all contests, on any band.
>
> Is it a "disservice" to bring new operators to one of the giant HF contest
> stations and let them operate during a contest? No.
>
> They didn't build the station, they didn't do anything other than sit down,
> hit the footswitch, and start running... probably learning the logging
> software on the fly... and maybe how to use the
> auto-keyer/auto-voice-caller, whatever... in fact, it probably puts the big
> contest station at a DISADVANTAGE while the person can't yet keep up with
> the usual run-rate.
>
> The only disservice I see here is the constant bitchfest running people
> off,
> with certain people on the list complaining about the stated goals of the
> contest.
>
> (But up until now, there's never been ANYTHING discussed here about
> changing
> the rules to make the requirement that you built your own station, 100%.
> Hell, let's ban all DEMI products and I have to build my transverters by
> hand too? Some people do. I never will.)
>
> It's an OPERATING contest, not a popularity contest, not a home-brew club
> show-and-tell, not a "I must do this all on my own" event. If someone
> WANTS
> those things to be a goal, they can ask for a sub-category or start another
> contest and hope some people show up.
>
> No one who's ever asked for help from the W0KVA/rmham.org team has ever
> been
> denied it, and I doubt ever will.
>
> If a new rover/new ham asked us to help them get set up from soup-to-nuts
> with a "contest station in a box", I'm sure we'd find a way to make it
> happen. We'd also teach them how it works in the process. We'd do it,
> even
> if it meant others of us buying gear/loaning it out, for the new person to
> use.
>
> Any radio sitting idle on contest day is a waste of money, time,
> opportunity.
>
> Meanwhile... my W-2 came in, and my "score" was lower than last year. I
> feel I have no chance of ever beating the top "scorers" without a lot of
> hard work and teammates looking out for my back. I'd probably even have to
> own the business and let a lot of others utilize my resources, and/or
> utilize someone else's resources and my genius abilities (ha! Yeah,
> right!)
> to create more value than we could have created alone.
>
> I think I'm going to go bitch about whoever created those rules...
> shouldn't
> everyone win!? I want some free money, perhaps a personal "stimulus
> package".
>
> Nate WY0X
>
>
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