On Mon, 4 May 2009 15:18:40 -0700 (PDT), "Gene Gabry"
> Don't get me wrong, I think the no signal heard or seen digital modes are
> wonderful and I do use them occasionally. I go back to my original
> question, what are we testing in a contest, human ability to decode or
> machine?
"Object: To work as many amateur stations in as many different 2 degrees
by 1 degree grid squares as possible using authorized frequencies above
50 MHz. Foreign stations work W/VE amateurs only."
(Why that second sentence is in the "Object" line I have no idea...
that's a "rule", not an object of the contest. But anyway, there's your
answer for June VHF.)
Human ability to set up, operate, and organize all sorts of "machines"
for communication purposes, actually -- yes. Can you copy RTTY in your
head? Do you think the average person off the street if handed all of
the components, including a pre-built IF radio (a "machine" to them),
could get a 10 GHz station operational without instructions?
(Sadly, many hams can't properly program a VHF FM rig these days with a
CTCSS tone to talk through a repeater, and have no idea what an "offset"
is, the radio does it for them... and I recently heard some folks
attempting to explain to someone how to properly tune in an SSB signal
one day on a local repeater. I jumped in and tried, too. As did
another ham with more than 20 years radio experience. The person with
the SSB rig, never figured it out. The nation is getting dumber, not
smarter.)
If someone's idea of a good contest is a homebrew radio contest, they
can go right ahead and create one, and they can even require folks to go
back to creating their own resistors and capacitors too, if they like.
Or if they think that digital modes should be disallowed then they can
start a new contest with "straight mic night" or whatever floats their
boat.
Call it the "VHF Heritage Contest", if you like.
So, if he'd have argued that it's time for a new contest, and that he's
volunteering to set it up, for all the "human-copy" purists... that'd be
fine.
But...
The ARRL VHF contest clearly states the object is to work other
stations. Period. Full stop.
If Gene doesn't want to use advanced digital modes either in contests or
in his personal enjoyment of the hobby, he's more than welcome NOT to.
But as a columnist for a membership-based organization (and not an
purely "entertainment" publication), he's wrong to push that agenda from
the pages of the ARRL's membership magazine.
I agree with the original poster, he's out of line.
To make the point even clearer: In the U.S., the FCC CHARTER that
covers why our radio service even EXISTS states that we are to
"contribute to the advancement of the radio art".
Nate WY0X
--
Nate Duehr
nate@natetech.com
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