To the best of my knowledge, even tho' CW readers have
been around for years, few, serious or even
semi-serious contesters use the technology.
For that matter, how many folks in the general ham
public use the technology with any frequency? Some
learners? Some casual operators?
Why not use on-line SDR transceivers for contesting?
Heck it's just you and your computer/software... no
need to build an arcane antenna system, buy the latest
$10K rig, we'll just use the latest "technology".
If you think using skimmer is going to attract new
young contesters because it's the latest greatest,
then you'd better figure out how to use it on cells
phones. I doubt we'd pull anyone from the gaming
community...
73,
Julius
--- "Joe Subich, W4TV" <w4tv@subich.com> wrote:
>
> Jim,
>
> > No matter how one chooses to parse the words, one
> of the
> > unique, intrinsic, and abject joys of amateur
> radio, in
> > general, and contesting in particular, is the
> beauty of
> > our ability to COPY signals and call signs.
>
> I'm sorry you feel that way but the "copy by ear"
> train left
> the station many years ago. Not only is CW decoding
> integral
> to Writelog, Amateur radio has not required that
> skill as an
> entry requirement for nearly ten years. To deny
> those who
> lack your particular skill set and dedication the
> ability
> to participate in a significant portion of contests
> would
> go a long way toward hastening the demise of
> contesting -
> at least CW contesting.
>
> Machine copy, whether it be Skimmer, the WriteLog
> decoder
> or one of the other stand alone decoders will be
> used by
> an every larger portion of CW contest entrants as
> the "old
> time" operators disappear. Do we lose something in
> the
> drift to machine copy? Yes. However that's not the
> issue.
>
> 73,
>
> ... Joe, W4TV
>
>
>
>
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: n6tj@sbcglobal.net
> [mailto:n6tj@sbcglobal.net]
> > Sent: Friday, April 25, 2008 12:01 PM
> > To: Joe Subich, W4TV; 'Sandy Taylor';
> cq-contest@contesting.com
> > Subject: SKIMMER = BUMMER
> >
> >
> > No matter how one chooses to parse the words, one
> of the
> > unique, intrinsic,
> > and abject joys of amateur radio, in general, and
> contesting
> > in particular,
> > is the beauty of our ability to COPY signals and
> call signs.
> >
> > To settle for less, and to have someone /
> something do it
> > for you, is
> > simply foolish and contributes little more to our
> beloved
> > pastime, other
> > than to demonstrate that someone can build the
> technology.
> > Just because we
> > can build a nuclear weapon, does that mean we
> should use it?
> > I hope not.
> >
> > For those poor souls who need crutches to (1) copy
> morse code
> > and (2) think
> > they've either 'leveled the playing field' or
> proved
> > anything, please go
> > spend some quality time learning CW skills, and
> practice, practice,
> > practice. You can do it, and we, and you, will be
> so very
> > glad that you
> > did.
> >
> > Thank you very much
> >
> > 73
> >
> > Jim Neiger N6TJ
> >
> >
> > ----- Original Message -----
> > From: "Joe Subich, W4TV" <w4tv@subich.com>
> > To: "'Sandy Taylor'" <ve4xt@mts.net>;
> <cq-contest@contesting.com>
> > Sent: Thursday, April 24, 2008 10:14 PM
> > Subject: Re: [CQ-Contest] Rule Change Debate on
> Skimmer
> >
> >
> > >
> > >
> > >> C'mon Joe, it's completely ludicrous to say
> Skimmer breaks no new
> > >> ground. Since when has there been anything,
> other than
> > packet, that
> > >> tells you who is on and where they are.
> > >
> > > The only thing Skimmer does is present the data
> in a
> > different format.
> > > It's certainly not the first CW decoder -
> they've been
> > around for 15
> > > maybe 20 years. It's certainly not the first
> panadapter - they've
> > > been around for 40? years. It's certainly not
> the first broadband
> > > receiver - they've been around for 80 years.
> However, skimmer
> > > combines those elements along with a little
> thought and a lot of
> > > programmer ingenuity to present the information
> in a very usable
> > > format.
> > >
> > > Skimmer doesn't do anything that the operator
> can't do (the
> > operator
> > > can scan the band and copy every signal he
> encounters) but skimmer
> > > does it faster and more efficiently but with
> less accuracy.
> > Putting a
> > > skimmer on the 2nd radio simply makes that radio
> more
> > efficient. It's
> > > the CW equivalent to some of the multiple
> channel PSK
> > software - for
> > > example the "broadband decode" feature of
> WinWarbler that will even
> > > fill a local bandmap during a PSK contest (what
> few there are).
> > >
> > > Skimmer breaks no new ground ... of that there
> is no doubt if you
> > > bother to pay attention to technology. Slimmer
> simply applies
> > > existing technology in a new area. The
> existence of WinWarbler's
> > > "broadband decode" feature for nearly two years
> has shown what is
> > > possible. CW Skimmer has applied that to CW and
> I don't
> > think it will
> > > be that soon before another clever programmer
> does the same with
> > > traditional RTTY. Phone will take a little
> longer because analog
> > > voice is just a bit more complicated to decode
> than any of
> > the digital
> > > (including CW) signals but it will happen at the
> amateur
> > level - I'm
> > > sure it is already happening on the
> government/professional level.
> > >
> > >
> > >> -----Original Message-----
> > >> From: Sandy Taylor [mailto:ve4xt@mts.net]
> > >> Sent: Thursday, April 24, 2008 11:10 PM
> > >> To: 'Joe Subich, W4TV';
> k-zero-hb@earthlink.net;
> > >> cq-contest@contesting.com
> > >> Subject: RE: [CQ-Contest] Rule Change Debate on
> Skimmer
> > >>
> > >>
> > >> C'mon Joe, it's completely ludicrous to say
> Skimmer breaks no new
> > >> ground. Since when has there been anything,
> other than
> > packet, that
> > >> tells you who is on and where they are.
> > >>
> > >> All the other examples you cite still require
> the operator to have
> > >> done SOMETHING. Skimmer doesn't.
> > >>
> > >> I can only guess you're saying such
> preposterous things to
> > stir the
> > >> pot a bit. I can't imagine you're being the
> least
=== message truncated ===
Julius Fazekas
N2WN
Tennessee Contest Group
TnQP http://www.tnqp.org/
Elecraft K2/100 #3311
Elecraft K2/100 #4455
Elecraft K3/100 #366
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