On Jul 15, 4:30 pm, KC4UAI wrote:
On Jul 14, 5:55 pm, wrote:
On Jul 14, 3:10 pm, KC4UAI wrote:
On Jul 11, 8:44 pm, wrote:
Besides,
I'd hate to lug enough batteries around to get a 100W tube station on
the air in a parking lot.

Batteries? Parking lot?

I've done FD with tube gear, it's not that much harder than with
"modern" stuff.

In 1995 I used the rig shown on my web page....

629 CW QSOs,
11 FM voice QSOs. Bonuses for 100% emergency power, W1AW
message, message to SM, and making 10 QSOs on VHF/UHF.

Well, my point was that technology has moved on and right now tubes
are not state of the art. (Not saying that they won't be in the
future.) And I’ll bet your 2 Meter rig was at least partly solid
state. Sure they work (and in some cases are the optimal solution for
a problem) but I don't see one new rig for sale today that has even
one tube.

My point was that it was not only possible to do FD with tube gear,
but
that it's possible to get decent results using it.

I think that the rules of contests may need to be adapted from time to
time to adjust for technology as it marches on, however I think that
we need to be mindful of two things.

First, the rules must be clearly written so everybody understands
where the various lines are drawn.

Second, they need to keep things as simple as possible.

Agree on both counts. But "as simple as possible" has different
meanings
to different folks, and will be a compromise.

Apart from that, the folks who are writing the rules for these events
are the ones who will need to make the choices. If a contest's rules
attract participants, good for them, if they are no longer popular
they need to adapt or close up shop.

Personally, I'm worried that with the increased average age for your
local ham translates into lack of interest for those of us who are
younger (say mid 40s). I see this as a problem for contests and not
just the hobby in general.

But is the "average age" really increasing, compared to the "average
age"
of the US population in general?

Or could it be that the younger hams are too busy working, studying,
and
raising families to go to many ham radio gatherings and be seen?

73 de Jim, N2EY