Howard Lester wrote:
"KC4UAI" wrote

I just had my first introduction to CW contesting during field day. I
sat and watched a CW operator rack up QSO after QSO at 25 wpm and I
was very impressed. Man, I wanted to do that! I left field day
with a renewed interest in CW thinking that I might try and brush off
the dust and cobwebs from my CW skills and give it a try next year.
Going from a copy speed of nearly zero to contest ready is going to be
a serious problem for me but I can try.

-----------------------------

Good! Then go for THAT -- not the electronic automatic whiz-bang stuff that
would give me one big yawn. There's real accomplisment and satisfaction
increasing your CW speed and improving your operating skills. But if your
head is being turned by the thought of automation, just recognize that as a
completely different world of operating. I suggest you stay with your
original plan and stay inspired. As far as I can imagine, there's no real
operating skill required for automation.

N7SO



I, too, realized that my CW skills have faded from underuse, and I
promised to get back up to speed for next year's Field Day. It's fun to
do simple stuff, with simple radios: it reminds me of how much I learned
and hard hard I worked to get my license, and also about how much magic
their is in a good antenna and rig.

But it's also fun to innovate and try out new things like SDR or CW
Skimmer or Packet Radio or the next killer app. It's important to
remember the past - it teaches us that fortune favors the prepared - but
it's also important to welcome change, and I don't think that putting
restrictions on automated operation or machine-aided reception would be
either enforceable or productive.

There is, as always, the issue of compexity: being good at managing an
automated computer system does _not_ mean you'll be good at allocating
supplies and anticipating demands when all you have to work with is a
clipboard. We could argue that any added complexity reduces our capacity
to react and to be productive in a disaster, when things tend to break
and simpler is almost always better. However, telling a curious ham
"NO!" is a sure-fire way to make sure he does it anyway, so let's assume
that hams who use CW Skimmer or other software will make intelligent
decisions about how to best use their assets in an emergency.

Ham Radio is, of course, a hobby - but so was skateboarding when Tony
Hawke started doing it. We all start out as amateurs, and it's only by
pushing the envelope that we learn what's possible when we look further
and try harder.

--
Bill Horne

(Remove QRM from my address for direct replies.)