[Elecraft] "Mechanical COntesting", was Elecraft CW Net Announc.

[Ron D'Eau Claire]

Heh, heh... And the "leading edge" of the contesters will pursue this =
until
it works better. That's why we have a K1 or K2 instead of a regen =
detector /
xtal oscillator transmitter in our stations and why RTTY isn't still =
being
done by a clattering "Model 19" mechanical machine and those
tricky-to-center-the-signal-in audio filters we had in the 50's.=20

It's one thing to wonder if new technology gives a group an "unfair
advantage" in a contest, but fundamental to Ham radio is that we will =
and
should continue to pursue every "edge" technology can give us to =
communicate
better.=20

Shoot, if that wasn't the case we'd disallow all Elecraft rigs on Field =
Day
and require that every group show up with a rig full of tubes and one of =
the
old kilowatt motor generators on a trailer we used to use back then =
hooked
on the back of the car.

Times and standards change, and with it the meaning of various =
activists. I
know that a lot of ops will mourn the current contest process when the =
day
comes that the big numbers are run up by digital-jockeys overseeing (or =
even
ignoring) their fully-automatic stations. The contest talk will be about
software, optimum keying speeds vs. copy quality and refinements to the
latest decoder technology, rather than surviving those hours at the =
operator
position. But I have no doubt that it will come and that it SHOULD come. =


I can remember when DXCC was a "lifetime dream" of many Dxers who hoped =
to
achieve that goal sometime over the decades before they became an SK. =
Just
look at how that's changed, thanks to more bands and better rigs!=20

Ron AC7AC

-----Original Message-----
A number of years ago (maybe 6-8 at least), Larry (Tree) Tyree (N6TR,=20
author of TRLog), created and used a completely automated contest robot =
in=20
one of the big contests. I think it was probably the SS. The robot, if I =

recall, did virtually everything (e.g. sending AND copying). It made a=20
decent, if not winning, score.

73,

Tom   N0SS=20