[PaQSO] Discussion

Wed, 17 Jul 2002 11:35:50 -0400

Ed,

For one, I don't think you owe anyone an apology.  Discussion is good, and
it never hurts to look things over to make sure we (or in this specific
case, NARC re: the contest) is doing things right.  If you never look, you
never catch things as they break...

Rules have certainly changed over the years.  Heck, the Nittany ARC didn't
even start the contest, they took it over from another club.  And as a few
of us OT's remember (hi Grump!), the contest used to be in September until
the ARRL standardized the three VHF contests to be on the same weekend...
and since NARC was a big VHF contest club at the time (oh, do I remember
working C6ACY from K3HKK on an old SB-110A, my favorite 6 meter rig!), they
moved the contest back a month -- which had much greater success than I
think anyone expected.

As far as the contest administration goes... well, I've known a few of those
guys for a long, long time, so rather than being accused of a personal bias,
l'll just say that Doug's steady hand has been missed the last two years.
But I am glad to say, again, that this year's chair (Chuck K3CM) was an
excellent choice and I have faith that he'll do just fine.  (I just hope
Chuck remembers to back up the !*&^#$+^&*! hard drive!)

One change I would like to see, after reading all of the comments, would be
a few additional awards for the Out of State guys (as per NG3K & his
comments on the CW category).  Fact is that since in-state stations get get
many more mults than the out-of-stater's, they will always have a built in
advantage.  For that reason alone, a few additional certificates makes
sense.

73, ron wn3vaw

"And they give you cash,
which is just as good as money!"
Yogi Berra, AFLAC Commercial, 2002

----- Original Message -----
From: <[email protected]>
To: <[email protected]>
Sent: Wednesday, July 17, 2002 10:29 AM
Subject: [PaQSO] Discussion

I feel the need to make this post....I sure hope I have not created any
hard feelings or put a bad taste in anyone's mouth. My intent WAS NOT to
create any "call to arms" for rules changes.

It seems to me there's (at least) two way's of looking at the recent
discussion on "things liked" and "thoughts on changes".......(and that is
what it is/was.........a discussion.....not a call for any rule change).

One is........ "If it ain't broke, don't fix it" and the other
is............ "Just because it ain't broke doesn't mean it can't be made
to work better".

I happen subscribe to the latter; not just as regards the Pa QSO party, but
in my job and life. Things change. When the Pa QSO party was first run
(back in '02???) were the rules the same then as now? I submit we have to
constantly "tinker" with rules, processes and the like to keep them running
along if fine fettle.

That said, I do not think that anyone subscribing to the first school of
thought (if it ain't broke, don't fix it) is "wrong" or "out of touch" or
anything like that. That is fine.....that is their opinion......that is
good.....without that "counter balance" things would get out of whack very
quickly......it is a good thing that we do not all think and act alike.

While the reflector is certainly a great place to discuss the best antennas
and what county you'll be in and stuff like that, I think we would be
missing a good opportunity if we did not DISCUSS other topics. There were a
lot of opinions for and against some of the ideas put forward. That's
great......that's discussion. I just hope no one takes it for more that it
is......a discussion.

I certainly don't, and I doubt many others feel that the "administration"
of this great event is a snap. I'm pretty comfortable most of us understand
it is a huge undertaking and a large commitment. But I just can't buy into
the argument that any rule change "adds to that weight". (Some changes,
maybe, but not all). Nor do I buy into the argument that a rule change that
would invalidate past scoring records is "bad". So what if a "full blown"
effort used to result in 175k - 200k points and now it results in 250k
points? So what if 90% of the county records fall in one year? I truley
mean that...what's the big deal? I hold the county record in CMB with appx
201,000 points. If there were a new rule this year making all CW QSO's were
worth 2 points and someone beats out that record with 230000 points, so
what? I have the same opportunity to beat it. I just don't see that as an
issue....records are made to be broken. (I wish I did not feel the need to
say the following....but since I am not "face-to-face" with you, and you
can't see me and hear my tone of voice and get all those other body
language messages..... I do: I'm not picking on W3TDF for his comments
about records being non-comparable, and I'm sure Ray couldn't care any less
if I were picking on him, I just needed an example of a change of what, I
feel, is a rule change that would not burden the administrators)

If I did not enjoy the Pa QSO party to the degree I do, (as it is
now....with any WARTS I may think it has), I wouldn't be spending $300 to
rent a cabin for four nights and using 3 days of vacation and tearing my
station apart and packing it in the car and unpacking it and setting it up
in that cabin and tearing it down again and packing it up again and setting
it up again at home and running the risk of damage in all that moving
around and living on bologna sandwichs in the hope that I get enough points
to squeak by all the other portables and get a (really nice) plaque for my
efforts  and I hope at least I get more points than N3FR so he has to buy
the beers and..........well you get the point. (And If I were saying this
to you face to face, I would have a great big smile on my face).

I truely hope that the differing opinions are taken as just that by
all.......opinions, as TDF said, we all have them. And I would add that we
are all entitled to them...and this is the appropriate place to air them
(if they are about the PaQP)......and if yours do not align with mine, I do
not feel there is anything wrong with you and I hope that if mine do not
align with yours you feel the same.

I just felt the need to say all this.........

12 weeks from tomorrow at about this time I will be on route 22 heading for
Prince Gallitzin park......I CAN"T WAIT!!!!!!!!!

Ed/WA3SES

_______________________________________________
PaQSO mailing list
[email protected]
http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/paqso