KØHB wrote:
"Mike Coslo" wrote


Who do ya want - a impatient knob twiddler with a FTDX 9000 and an antenna
farm of (insert your favorite antenna here), or a good capable contester with
say a dipole and an IC-746.



Your example is specious, Mike. Generally the contester who builds a
competition grade station has also invested in building the skills and
techniques to take advantage of the capabilities they have sought in their
station design.

Do you think so Hans? I have examples of just that, and it has been my
personal experience. Your statement is true as far as it goes, but I've
seen what happens when the newbies have access to the competition grade
setups, as sometimes happens during events such as Field day

So many of the newbies I have worked with come in with the expectations
of sitting down, throwing the tuning knob around, and calling, then
waiting for the pileup. They get frustrated with the work that you have
to put into the more modest setups.

Many times we are told that the station "isn't working". And of course
it is. An experienced and patient operator can start making QSO's
immediately. One of the newbies decided that he wanted to use the QRO
station and referred to the GOTA as a "toy station".

Those QRO stations are powerful competition for lower powered ones. It
is not terribly difficult to twiddle the knob, start calling CQ, and
getting return calls. Problem is, it doesn't tend to make you a good
contester.

- Mike KB3EIA -