[ADXA] I Want My MTV !

Tue Apr 23 11:13:43 EDT 2024

Since I qualify as a 3rd year NEWBIE I'll throw my 2 cents into this topic...
Do I want to achieve DXCC Honor Roll?...Absolutely...
Do I think I'll make it before I kick the bucket?...Probably Not...But you never know...
Do I want the requirements lowered so that I can possibly get there before the bucket gets kicked...Absolutely NOT...
If I were to make the Honor Roll, I'd want to do it without the asterisk beside it that says, "Achieved Based On Lower Requirements"...
In my opinion the 2 major things that come into play in making Honor Role are #1 Time and #2 Effort.  While I don't think I lack on the Effort side, the Time side is against me since I'm now 60 and have only been in the hobby 2 years - This coming Friday will be the 2 year anniversary of my 1st DX contact.  My only regret so far is that I didn't find this hobby (and these Friends) sooner in life.  
So now Joel says:  "So, Tune what are you going to do?"...Well I'm going to do exactly what you said...Get In There and Work Em..."But how do you stay Motivated if you don't think you're going to make Honor Roll?"  Well, my biggest motivation is that page on the ADXA Website that says Member Standings.  You talk about motivation - These are some of the best operators in the country.  I consider this group my peers and my daily motivation is trying to climb as high in this group as possible.  I get a big kick out of seeing an entity spotted on email and going in and working them and even a bigger kick out of posting a spot and then seeing some ADXA members working that spot. 
In closing, I'd like to say thanks to each of you for making the last 2 years very enjoyable.
Now it's time to get back to Bhutan, Easter Island, Austral Island and Chad...
Dennis Tune W5DM  

    On Tuesday, April 23, 2024 at 08:48:14 AM CDT, Mark Sutherland - K5DXR via ADXA <adxa at mailman.qth.net> wrote:  

 Hear, hear!

    Sent with Proton Mail secure email. 
 On Tuesday, April 23rd, 2024 at 8:34 AM, w5znjoel at gmail.com <w5znjoel at gmail.com> wrote:

Greetings ADXA Folks,

April is quickly moving into history. As I’ve noted before, the past several years I’ve been a 160-meter DX enthusiast in my goal to hit the 300 DXCC mark on that band, currently at 290. The low band season starts to fade this time of year and my mind focusses on other amateur radio and personal interests. I’m quite excited with all the DX activity on the bands and within ADXA. Everyone is racking up nice band countries as well as all time new ones.

This morning I was watching the YouTube video of the Visalia DX Forum. Well, up until the time the ridiculous madness took over and I could no longer stand it and turned it off. The primary topic of debate in the forum was reducing the requirement to achieve DXCC Honor Roll. We’ve had this same debate within ADXA more than once and Bill, K5FUV, has presented an excellent program on this topic during our past two annual conferences. The one comment during the Visalia DX Forum that pushed me over the cliff was “We need to Honor Roll easy for the ‘newbies’ so they can achieve some status!” WHAT???? (I actually added a few other words to “what” but it is inappropriate to repeat those here!). What is it about the DXCC Honor Roll that you must reduce the requirements just so a “newbie” can acquire some status? Let’s review the opportunities a “newbie” has for status in the DXCC program:

   - Achieving DXCC – confirming 100 countries. You have now entered the great hall of DX
   - Achieving DXCC on more than one band or mode – You have proven you aren’t running a Heathkit HW-32 and can move around to other bands/modes effectively
   - Achieving the 1,000 mark in the DXCC Challenge, then increasing that total to the next ‘500’ level
   - Achieving 5 Band DXCC (or many more than 5)

These are all very special achievements…..ALL OF THEM! And I’m very proud of the fact that the ADXA folks are achieving goals in several of these areas and not simply focused on DXCC Honor Roll. Let’s not forget the reason the DXCC Honor Roll is so coveted is because it is the pinnacle achievement in DXCC and should not be reduced to “everyone gets a trophy!” 

C’mon Harrison, you are on the DXCC Honor Roll so you don’t want anyone else to get there. NOT SO! I want to see every ADXA member achieve DXCC Honor Roll, but not because the requirements were lowered. Even though I’m on the Honor Roll I am not “Top of the Honor Roll”. I need only one, P5 North Korea. Now, Dennis W5RZ is “Top” so I’m jealous and have my lip pooched out. I’ve been DX’ing for what seems like a millennium and I “deserve” to have it so let’s remove P5? Absolutely not. The day I finally achieve “Top” I want it to still be as prestigious as it is today. 

Some of the comments during the portion of the forum I watched (before I had to vomit) is to place some countries on an “inactive” list, not delete them, but make them inactive so they don’t count toward the Honor Roll requirement. OK, let’s think about this for a minute and let me use the recent Bouvet operation as an example. Let’s say Bouvet was moved to the inactive list. Several of you make Honor Roll. Bouvet comes on the air and is moved from inactive to active and you are not able to work Bouvet. Some of you were not. So what happens now? You fall off the Honor Roll because the entity requirement increased and you didn’t make it. You going to turn in your plaque? I didn’t think so. There would be another cry to lower the requirements or allow for a “special accommodation”.

With credit to Dire Straits - I want my MTV! “I shoulda learned to play the guitar, I shoulda learned to play them drums” Maybe we shoulda learned some patience! Honor Roll for nothing and your plaque for free?

I once had a boss who kept a pacifier in his desk. When someone would walk into his office and start complaining (whining) he would reach in his desk and hand you the pacifier. Yea, I was the recipient on more than one occasion so for now I’ll stop whining and highlight some of the great achievements ADXA folks have made as recorded in the “Member Standings” page on the ADXA website.

DXCC Challenge:

1,000 – 1,499 – 11

1,500 – 1,999 – 12

2,000 – 2,499 – 5

2,500-2,999 – 3

>3,000 – 2

Those so close to 1,000 they can smell it – 5

5 Band DXCC – 31

DXCC on more than one band/mode – 52

And for Honor Roll 10 are “Top of the Honor Roll” and 20 are on the Honor Roll. 

I’ll put the ADXA folks up against any DX group in the country…..heck, in the world. So, while working toward DXCC Honor Roll don’t overlook the fact there are many other highly coveted DXCC achievements that will cement your status as a BIG DOG in the world of DX. Now, with that pursuit in mind “GET IN THERE AND WORK ‘EM!”

73 Joel W5ZN

ADXA President

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