[Elecraft] Contesting

[Tommy Alderman]

On Feb 19, 2012, at 10:26 PM, Dale Putnam wrote:

> SPECIFICALLY the Elecraft line, if you can hear the other station.. he's
already 5nn, or you wouldn't be answering his call

Not hardly!!! Try getting on 40m with a storm passing, and five or six 100
watt/dipole Eu or Asian signals all calling you at the same time and see how
many of them you can copy with your K3 - or ANY receiver for that matter. It
is just not going to happen - the K3 is good but it sure is not magic!
As for the RST in contest, that is not what most (?) contesters particularly
like to do. It is the contest sponsor who defines the contest exchange, and
the contester has to abide by the sponsors decisions. Have you ever tried to
get the ARRL to change ANYTHING? The other part of the equation is that now
most contest sponsors mandate that contesters scores be reported in Cabrillo
format, meaning the use of a computer is just about mandatory - therefore
the 'canned' 599 reports. 
In the early 50's I participated in a lot of CW traffic handling, which
provided me with some 'discipline' in operating CW. In my opinion,
contesting offers the same, but different, type of training. If you forget
about the non-contester hang up about 5NN, try copying 1000 to 2000
different contest exchanges over one weekend and see if you don't learn
something.
The bottom line of all of this is our HOBBY! And a hobby should be FUN.
Fortunately in this hobby, if you don't like the activity you hear, it is
very easy to turn your VFO or actuate your On/Off switch.
73,
Tom - W4BQF