RadioBanter - Something old and something new

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Something old and something new

wrote in message
...

IOW, the competition would continue, just in a different way. But the
average operator would still not be able to beat the big guns, because
the true competitors would still have whatever advantages
were to be had.

And wailing and knashing of teeth would still be heard throughout the "Land of
Average".

"Average operators" (those who voted for Diana Moon Glompers) would cry
"unfair".

Let's just take one real-life example, not a strained speculation. SO2R
(SingleOp2Radio operating style) is a developed skill (not a technology). It
takes work to perfect, but once mastered it dramatically tilts the field in
favor the operator who uses it. Join the CQ-Contest email reflector, and
mention you'll be operating "SO2R" in SS CW next November. The "average
operators who want rules to level the field" will rise up bemoaning the
"unfairness of it all" and "there ought to be a rule".

If radiosport contesting (the last great hope of saving ham radio, IMNSHO) is to
live up to it's potential to advance the state of the radio art, then we need to
structure contest rules which encourage and nurture skill and technology
developers, and do not reward "average" operators or "average" stations.

73, de Hans, K0HB

Something old and something new

On Jul 16, 8:52ï¿½pm, "Dee Flint" wrote:

We should all take this story to heart as it's likely we've all had
experiences where people wanted to "clip our wings" to
prevent us from soaring with the eagles.

Here's an example:

My high school was involved in a competition known then as
"Mathletes", where we'd compete against teams from other schools in
solving math problems.

IMHO there was never a more level playing field, because all
competitors got the same problems, the same amount of time and had the
same resources.

In my senior year we had so many students who wanted to compete and
who met the requirements that my school fielded two independent teams,
"A" and "B". This was not unusual; other schools did the same thing.

The overall City championship was determined by the season points
total of a given team - highest scoring team got first place, second
highest got second place, etc. The top two positions were the big ones
to win.

But at the end of the last meet, our A team had the highest season
points score, and the B team had the second highest. Two winning teams
from the same school had never happened before, and the officials were
somewhat unsure of what to do.

So after some deliberation they gave the first place trophy jointly to
the A and B team from my school, and the second place trophy to the
*third* place team. Their reasoning was that they didn't want the rest
of the teams to feel bad - that it somehow wasn't "good" for one
school to walk off with both trophies.

All of us on both the A and B teams learned a lesson that day. I don't
think it was the lesson the officials wanted us to learn, though.

73 de Jim, N2EY

Something old and something new

On Jul 16, 9:04ï¿½pm, "Kï¿½HB" wrote:
wrote in message
...

IOW, the competition would continue, just in a different
way. But the
average operator would still not be able to beat the
big guns, because
the true competitors would still have whatever advantages
were to be had.

And wailing and knashing of teeth would still be heard throughout the "
Land of Average". "Average operators" (those who voted
for Diana Moon Glompers) would cry "unfair".

There would probably be complaints that it
was unfair that the big guns used expensive low-loss feedlines,
for example, to get a tiny advantage of signal strength.

Let's just take one real-life example, not a strained
speculation. ï¿½

Actually, I don't think it's strained. I've had conversations with
hams who felt that the big guns should be limited in all sorts of
ways, from power to antennas to automation. My point is that even if
those limits
were imposed, there would be stations and operators whose performance
was outstanding.

SO2R
(SingleOp2Radio operating style) is a developed skill (not a
technology). ï¿½

I'd say it's both. Not that it really matters.

It
takes work to perfect, but once mastered it dramatically tilts the
field in favor the operator who uses it. ï¿½
Join the CQ-Contest email reflector, and
mention you'll be operating "SO2R" in SS CW next
November. ï¿½The "average
operators who want rules to level the field" will rise up
bemoaning the
"unfairness of it all" and "there ought to be a rule".

I don't see how SO2R is "unfair" in any way. IIRC, the SS rules
permit as many bandchanges and frequency changes as one
desires, but a station can only transmit one signal at any time.

So all that SO2R, or SO3R or SOxR does is make it possible to
change band/frequency really really fast. It could be implemented
with 1930s technology if somebody really wanted to.

Some of the concepts of SO2R can even be implemented with one rig.
Should that be outlawed too?

There will always be folks with advantages. If nothing else, the
person who doesn't have a job or family responsibilities will have an
advantage over the person who does. So what?

If radiosport contesting (the last great hope of saving ham radio, IMNS
HO) is to
live up to it's potential to advance the state of the radio art, then
we need to
structure contest rules which encourage and nurture skill and
technology
developers, and do not reward "average" operators or "average" stations
..

I think that is easily done by having various categories. As I have
said before, don't outlaw "Skimmer", but don't put it in the same
category as the "boy and his radio" stations.

I think it's a bit of hyperbole to describe contesting as "the last
great hope of saving ham radio". OTOH, I think being able to offer a
competitive sport kind of activity is a big selling point for amateur
radio. What would distance running or bicycling be like if there were
no marathons, 10Ks or bike races? I suspect those things would be
greatly diminished and less popular, even though most runners and
cyclists will never win a race.

I'm no more than an "average" operator with a somewhat unusual
station. Long ago I realized that unless I won the lottery, I'd
probably never "win" any radio contest.

So for me the competition is really against myself. Can I do better
than before? Are there improvements I can make to my modest station to
get a higher score? How much can be done with the limited resources I
do have?

The results have been gratifying and a lot of fun.

73 de Jim, N2EY

Something old and something new

wrote in message
...

So all that SO2R, or SO3R or SOxR does is make it
possible to change band/frequency really really fast.
It could be implemented with 1930s technology if
somebody really wanted to.

It is routinely implemented with no "technology" any more complex than SO1R,
unless you call split headphones a "technology". Pure and simple, it's a human
skill.

And it's nothing new either. The first generally accepted "serious" use of SO2R
was 56 years ago by W4KFC in the 1952 SS CW contest.

73, de Hans, K0HB
Just an old boy and his radios

Something old and something new

On Jul 17, 10:24 am, Steve Bonine wrote:
wrote:
My high school was involved in a competition known then as
"Mathletes", where we'd compete against teams from other schools in
solving math problems.

IMHO there was never a more level playing field, because all
competitors got the same problems, the same amount of time and had the
same resources.
....
But at the end of the last meet, our A team had the highest season
points score, and the B team had the second highest.

I suspect that this is actually an illustration that all the competitors
did not really have the same resources. How much influence did your
coach have in how well the team did?

None, we didn't have a coach. We had a faculty moderator, whose job it
was
to see that we got to the meets and behaved ourselves.

Some of the teams were probably
coached by a teacher who was pressed into the position and had neither
the ability nor motivation to push the team to be competitive, while I
bet your coach was excellent.

He was excellent in that he made sure we knew when the meets were and
how we'd get there. The rest was up to us.

We won because *we* had ability and motivation, not because we were
pushed.

Native ability is just part of the puzzle. Unless the opportunity and
motivation is there to develop the skill, nothing will ever come of it.

The opportunity was that the Mathletes competition existed. The
motivation was our own; that we knew we were good and wanted to prove
it. And we did, even if the Diana Moon Glompers clones in charge
denied the B team their trophy.

As for amateur radio contesting, what motivates the big guns? Their
achievements are only appreciated by a few; amateur radiosport is
generally not a spectator thing. Nor will they be paid.

And while they are intensely competitive, (google "Barracuda Rules"),
nothing the big guns do to win remains a secret for very long. Take
computer logging - it started as a very expensive and complex
alternative to paper, but now there are all sorts of logging software
packages that are free or of nominal cost, and which will run on
computers so old they are dumpster fodder. What could be fairer than
that? Yet I recall folks years ago who said it was unfair that the big
guns had computer logging.

73 de Jim, N2EY

Something old and something new

On Jul 20, 8:20 pm, Phil Kane wrote:
On Wed, 16 Jul 2008 20:51:14 EDT, wrote:
There are, such as RF power amplifiers for HF and low VHF. While it is
certainly possible to build the solidstate equivalent of, say, a
single-3-500Z HF amplifier, the SS version costs more and is less
efficient.

Yet the broadcast industry is going to SS as fast as they can.
Modular in design, if one "final" module fails, the power gets reduced
but they stay on the air. If a "final" tube fails, it's February
2009 much sooner. Reduction in maintenance costs outweigh capital
investment. I don't think that you can buy a new AM broadcast
transmitter below 50 KW that isn't SS all the way, and there are
plenty of SS 50 rigs in service.

Of course! But that shows the difference between Amateur Radio and
other services.

Perhaps I should have specified that the comparisons I was making were
between SS and tube amps meant for Amateur Radio service, particularly
HF and VHF service.

A broadcast transmitter has to be ultra-reliable and built for
continuous service. At 8760 hours in a standard year, it doesn't take
long for a component with an expected life of 10,000 or 20,000 hours
life to require replacement. Which BC folks tend to do on a schedule,
rather than waiting for failure to force the issue.

But with a very few exceptions, an amateur transmitter spends very
little time actually transmitting. I'd guess that most active amateurs
are on the air less than 1000 hours per year (that's about 2-3/4 hours
per day, every single day), and when they are on the air, most spend
at least half their time listening. OTOH, most amateurs will change
frequency at least once in a while...

So while the BC station owner can justify the purchase of an SS
transmitter based on lower maintenance costs, the amateur is usually
more limited by first-cost.

73 de Jim, N2EY

Something old and something new