[Elecraft] CW Contest and Elecraft K3s decoder

[EUGENE GABRY]

> On November 27, 2017 at 2:39 PM Fred Moore wrote:
> 
>      CW contests have
>     become a machine contest not a Ham contest...
> 


This is something I fight personally when I decide to enter a CW contest. Technology is great, it has allowed those who are either not proficient at CW or can't even copy CW, to be able to communicate.

I've always thought the focus of a "conTEST", whether CW or SSB was to test the capabilities of the "operator" to accurately receive the information sent, making as many contacts in the time period of the contest as possible. Scores determined in part, by busted calls or other information copied incorrectly, and then scoring against their peers. 


Today there are a lot of (Robots) that can decode CW. It is true that all robots are not the same, and errors could occur. Just wonder when we draw the line as to who/what is being judged for accuracy.  


I love the technology. It's great for communications. (I think you know where I stand on robotic modes like FT8 :) )

But in a contest, "these days" it seems to come down to who has the best robotics (machines) to eliminate the human element for the sake of driving up the score to new levels.


73 Gene

N9TF