[SFDXA] Jim's GAZETTE Newsletter #123

[Bill Marx]

Jim's GAZETTE
Newsletter #123
5 June 2002

Please feel free to forward this newsletter to any and all interested parties, or to reproduce it in
any publication. All we ask is that you give credit where it is due.

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SHORT NOTES:  NOTES: Email for 4X6UO is bouncing. If anyone has a new address for Arie, I would appreciate an update.

Steve N1NB kindly informed us that there is a single-source website for those who might be interested in a new, replacement,
additional or alias callsign.
The site is updated daily with information on available calls, soon-to-be-available calls, applications and so forth. Go to
www.vanityhq.com. Thanks,
Steve.

>>>>>

Now why, might you ask, would this be of interest to the veterans who comprise the bulk of Newsletter readers? After all, the
overwhelming majority of
them have labored in the vineyard under the banner of a single callsign since the dawn of their ham radio history, be it 5 or 50
years or more. Yet, in this
day and age, strange things do happen.

Just the other day, for example, an unusual (but not unprecedented) Email popped up announcing the demise of another very familiar
callsign. 'Don't look
for this callsign anymore,' it said, 'in contests or DX pileups. AA6AY won't be there.' Chen, obviously, like others before him was
cashing in his chips so
he would no longer have to withstand the stress of battle, face the loss of sleep, abide the unfair competition, the unknown
propagation, the unusual and
usually unhappy fellow hams.

But . . . a careful  reading suggested there might be a humorous undertone there, a sort of mis-direction that led many to believe
something else was
afoot in Chen's memo. And, lo and behold, it turns out that there is a brand new Chen out there, a new model if you will, who signs
with a W7AY. Is it the
same guy? Who knows, but it is surely the 'WAYtogo' if you want to change your identity. (I am in the process of checking his credit
card and drivers
license numbers but have made little headway because of the firewall on his computer). I'll keep you posted!

>>>>>

At about the same time, the ARRL website devoted some space to an informal piece of research. It was an attempt to measure the use
of our various
modes. Nobody was surprised to find that not many licensees practice the digital arts. That's old news. But there were those quite
taken aback over the
fact that the poll reflected the surging popularity of PSK. This new mode won the contest hands down, outvoting RTTY by about
2-to-1! 'Ouch!' said the
Contesters and DXers, 'how can that be?' PSK contests don't draw enough entrants to make an event. And, PSK DX? Forget about it.

The results, despite the obvious statistical weakness of such polling techniques, make sense when we look at the bands. PSK operates
24/7! RTTY is a
12/1 mode, working around the clock only on those occasional days of special interest. There are always PSK signals on HF if there
is even marginal
propagation carrying their pipsqueak signal around the globe. And, despite rumors to the contrary, there is good and often rare DX
looking for a contact,
often without pileups of any size. Most RTTY bands are empty most of the time . . . except for those weekends when contests blossom
or when, on rare
occasions, rare DX creates the famed pileups.

There are other reasons, of course. PSK is a simple mode with free and easy software and it requires very low power into simple
antennas. Almost
anybody can figure out how to hook it up and, as some old pro said, 'it's as easy as SSB to operate.' And it works like magic, or
what seems like magic to
the new users who may or may not have substantial digital experience. So does this simplicity, low cost and ease of operation
condemn those, old or
new, who feel that PSK is the best game in town? Not at this QTH, not with this old pro who finds PSK to be the best package in
town. And, it's made even
better when we discover that a large number of the tracings on the waterfall emanate from the very basic setups of brand new digital
operators. A QSL
card from EI4FV is typical-- 'Just setting up PSK, Jim, and your report meant a lot to me.'

If the ARRL repeats the survey next year, the vote might be 3 to 1 in favor of PSK! Hi.

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Finally we get to the subject of 'entitlements.' Again, this issue produced reams of Email, a great deal of smoke and very little
fire. Simply stated, many
feel that those greedy contest sponsors ought to release the results of the contest they sponsor long before an issue of their
magazine can be printed
and mailed to a shrinking base of subscribers. 'We are entitled to know the results no later than 90 days after the contest!' Now
there's a statement worth
thinking about.

Some say that because of their huge investment in antennas, two or more rigs and their enormous commitment of time, they deserve
better treatment.
Well, in a world of instant information because of TV, the Internet, All-news radio, etc., that's an understandable point of view.
The world doesn't wait for
results anymore. We either have instantaneous information or forget about it. Can you imagine waiting for a week to find out who won
today's World Cup
match? There would be blood in the streets! Nor can we wait for the voting booths to close before we declare a winner in any
election, anywhere. And, so
it goes.

But there are unique problems in the contest world. Scoring is complex and incredibly slow. There is no way, so far, to accumulate
scores in 'real-time,'
no way to post a leader board showing the top-ten at the end of 6 hours, or 12, 24, 36 and 48. Even after the event, the only
worthwhile indication is the
'claimed' and unofficial tallies posted on the Internet. But, all too often, many of the high scoring ops tend to defer posting
until they see what the other
heavy-hitters are doing.

Scores trickle in to those charged with assembling them into a manageable mass of data and, quite frequently, the scores arrive with
a bundle of glitches
that add further delays. Thus, everybody must wait, and wait until the sponsor is happy with the result and ready to release the
results. It is unfortunate
that a magazine sponsor who waits 90 days for the scoring data faces another 60 days of integrating the scores in the next issue,
printing and mailing.
All of which means that the scores arrive about the time the contester is getting ready for the next iteration of the contest!

It seems to this observer (at this point in life, one with a totally objective, disinterested view) that there is no easy solution
on the horizon. The problem is
basic. Until there is standardized contest software, rigid parameters for submission and a server large enough to digest the data
and spit out the results
in a matter of seconds, there can be no great improvement. So it is that we can either continue with the present method of '60 days
to file results-reliance
on a willing volunteer to gather and manipulate the data-and publish some time later,' or jump into a radical new scheme involving a
48 hour deadline for
submission to a commercial server which would post all data to the Internet as it arrives. The technology is there ready for use,
but this approach would
require the regimentation of a great many independent spirits, selection of the one and only piece of scoring software . . . AND a
sponsor willing to spend
a little money in the process. A solution, maybe, but a formula with many hurdles in its path.

I frankly doubt magazines are in a position or willing to put up the cash. Some suggested each entrant might pay a fee for
participation. Yeah! That would
kill any contest within one year. Hi!
Stay tuned.

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73 de Jim N2HOS: GAZETTE at www.n2hos.com/digital