In a message dated 2/6/08 2:59:17 PM Eastern Standard Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes:
> It seems strange that some hams would find this sort of technology > objectionable. Not to me. After all, aren’t we all about technology? No. While technology is a big part of ham radio, it's not the only thing. If it were, we'd have stopped using modes like CW, AM, FM and FSK RTTY long ago. We'd have channelized, ALE-type rigs, etc. Why would we hang > > around this forum if we weren't looking for a leg up. Just because someone > has found a tool to work a new one doesn’t mean anything except to the ham > that did it. That's fine in everyday operating. But in a competitive situation like a contest it's a different thing entirely, because competition is a mix of technology and operator skill. Some analogies: What if someone wanted to use a "hybrid" bicycle in the Tour de France? One that would store the energy from a downhill run to be released on an uphill climb? For that matter, why aren't mopeds allowed? I could probably win the Boston Marathon if they let me use roller skates (and everyone else didn't). Corked bats in baseball - super-distance golf balls - turbine-powered Indy cars - lots of ways technology can give someone an edge and change the game completely. There are times when I take out my homebrew DC receiver and a > > homebrew transmitter and pound away. There are times when I like to take my > KX-1 to Central Park. There are times when I have three or four ham programs > running all connected to my K3 during a contest. I do it because I want to > and because its fun. No problem with any of that. The question is, where is the line at which a contest station is no longer single-operator unassisted? If it wasn’t, I could go play golf (and really make > > myself miserable). > > They call it golf because all the other four-letter words were already taken. 73 de Jim, N2EY ************** Biggest Grammy Award surprises of all time on AOL Music. (http://music.aol.com/grammys/pictures/never-won-a-grammy?NCID=aolcmp003000000025 48) _______________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Post to: Elecraft@mailman.qth.net You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com