Just Ranting - Submitting Contest Logs

[n0eq]

If you don't want to hear me whine, click "back" and don't read..:rant:

I think contests are fun. Mostly because they test my ability to
make contacts on my little 5w QRP battery powered station. Sometimes
I camp out in the desert, sometimes I OP from my own mini ranch in
Phoenix. In every case, I'm QRP, single op, battery powered, working
by flashlight at night, and logging with a PENCIL on a piece of PAPER.

But I've had bad experiences with a couple of contests lately. They
just aren't able to accept logs in simple text format. I've even transposed
the info from hand written into a simple TXT file which, for heavens sake,
should be viewable on anything from an etch-a-sketch to a Univac.
But the contests I've participated in this year simply weren't able
to deal with it.

More and more, it seems not just the high scorers, but the average
players are moving toward all automated computerized logs that automatically
format into cabrillo, yada yada.

Just plain grumps me out that plain old-fashioned text logs can't/won't
work with these contests. Double grumps me out because I actually
score very high, even out scoring some of the QRO power stations
with their beams and air conditioning and soft chairs..:irked:

Rant off.

Craig 'Lumpy' Lemke
www.n0eq.com (http://www.n0eq.com)

[NQ6U]

I can't hear you--I've got a banana in my ear.

Oh, wait...that was supposed to be your line...

[WØTKX]

Send them a handwritten log, use your groupies to fill 'em out... :mrgreen:

[W4RLR]

You have troubles? Try using an oddball logging program (oddball to everyone but a Mac user) using another oddball program (again, oddball to everyone but a Mac user) to convert from ADIF to Cabrillo, finding that you logged the exchange to every contact in the wrong field, which means running the log through the conversion program several times until things come out the way they were supposed to. (the fault was mine, not the program's fault)

That was my life after last weekend's contest. Thank goodness I couldn't get on the air much and only had less than 40 contacts. But the contacts I had were nearly all DX.

[n0eq]

And so it ends up being who can navigate the appropriate computer program and entrybot rather than who can do the best job at operating a ham station. Fascinating what we've become.


Lump

[WØTKX]

For me, Ham radio is a hobby, and I wanna relax and goof off with it. So, I occasionally mess with contests, but I'm very casual. And while I don't run QRP exclusively, ran it on 6 meters on purpose this year, with just a vertical. Had a blast during openings.

AZ to CO is usually easy, I'm on call for another 40 minutes... calling CQ on 3.922. :dunno:

[W4RLR]

Wifoid was amazed. "Who are you talking to now?" I would tell her I was talking to a ham in France (2 contacts) Bosnia (2 contacts) and Brazil (3 contacts). I even worked a special event station in Illinois that was not participating in the contest, but it was great to rag chew (something I don't normally do) I'll have to go to Staples today and get some envelopes to send out the QSL cards.

I've figured out the software now, I should be good for the ARRL contest this month.

[WX7P]

If you don't want to hear me whine, click "back" and don't read..:rant:

I think contests are fun. Mostly because they test my ability to
make contacts on my little 5w QRP battery powered station. Sometimes
I camp out in the desert, sometimes I OP from my own mini ranch in
Phoenix. In every case, I'm QRP, single op, battery powered, working
by flashlight at night, and logging with a PENCIL on a piece of PAPER.

But I've had bad experiences with a couple of contests lately. They
just aren't able to accept logs in simple text format. I've even transposed
the info from hand written into a simple TXT file which, for heavens sake,
should be viewable on anything from an etch-a-sketch to a Univac.
But the contests I've participated in this year simply weren't able
to deal with it.

More and more, it seems not just the high scorers, but the average
players are moving toward all automated computerized logs that automatically
format into cabrillo, yada yada.

Just plain grumps me out that plain old-fashioned text logs can't/won't
work with these contests. Double grumps me out because I actually
score very high, even out scoring some of the QRO power stations
with their beams and air conditioning and soft chairs..:irked:

Rant off.

Craig 'Lumpy' Lemke
www.n0eq.com (http://www.n0eq.com)

You just figured this out? Cabrillo has been around forever.

What's the big deal?

[WØTKX]

The other day, one of the directors at work was asking a question, that we did not have a "perfect" answer for, and flippantly said... "it must be the sun". I told him the sun would not recently be a factor at 900Mhz, though the sun had been a bit active, and I worked the Galapagos Islands the day before. My boss made a face at me, but the director went "what"? He was pretty amazed at my quick tale, and explanation of a slightly active sun, tho dirty jokes were made when I said "coronal mass discharge".

Then I suggested the double slit experiment, to offset negative waves. Went right over his head. My boss almost had a heart attack. :mrgreen: Have a "possible" beer.

http://angryflower.com/schrod.gif

[n0eq]

You just figured this out? Cabrillo has been around forever.

What's the big deal?

Well, no. Cabrillo hasn't been around forever. Pencils have.
As I suggested, the contests no longer measure operating skills
or station efficiency. They measure the ability of the submitter
to submit their scores.

"What's the big deal" indeed.
Here's my list. It's in this obscure format known
as plain English language. Why can't you accept it?


Craig 'Lumpy' Lemke
www.n0eq.com (http://www.n0eq.com)

[WX7P]

Well, no. Cabrillo hasn't been around forever. Pencils have.
As I suggested, the contests no longer measure operating skills
or station efficiency. They measure the ability of the submitter
to submit their scores.

"What's the big deal" indeed.
Here's my list. It's in this obscure format known
as plain English language. Why can't you accept it?


Craig 'Lumpy' Lemke
www.n0eq.com (http://www.n0eq.com)

Sorry, Lumpster, but this is a case of you needing to get with the program, no pun intended.

Paper logs went the way of the dinosaur more than 20 years ago, and you whining about it is not going to bring that back.

It's time for you to get off your ass and as they used to say on the 40 meter swap service out here, "follow the format".

[W3WN]

The major contests have pretty much standardized on Cabrillo (formatted their way). Some will still take ADIF.

Some of the smaller or regional contests aren't as picky. For example, N3LI told me last year that as long as he gets the electronic log submission for the Pa QSO Party in a reasonable format that he can handle (Cabrillo ADIF TXT etc.) he'll accept it. I sent mine in last year in an Excel spreadsheet.

But all is not lost.

Import your .TXT file into Excel. There are several Excel to ADIF converters available out on the web (look on the K1EA site under CTWIN)

Now, I still maintain my master station log in dBase. I found a routine out there a few years back (I don't have the name or author of it handy, sorry, I'll check when I get home) that can convert dBase .DBF files to ADIF files. It's made my life a lot easier for Logbook of the World uploads... once a month I extract the last month's data, convert it, encrypt it, and upload it. Takes maybe 10 minutes. Maybe.

The top dog radio-sporters (no, they're not contesters anymore, and it's not Contesting, it's Radio Sport. Feh. But I digress) are pushing the contest committees (which they dominate or outright run these days) to adapt more stringent uploading requirements, even to the point of having "live feed" updates and very short entry deadlines. In part because they're impatient (I wonder how many suffer from Adult ADD) for the results to be available RIGHT NOW, and in part because they don't trust each other very much & are afraid that too many are "cheating."

So it's not going to be better.

Frankly, they're getting too cut-throat for my tastes. This nonsense is sucking all the fun out of contesting. And then they whine that if we don't do what they want, we must be the ones hiding something. Buggers.

[WØTKX]

Sorry, Lumpster, but this is a case of you needing to get with the program, no pun intended.

Paper logs went the way of the dinosaur more than 20 years ago, and you whining about it is not going to bring that back.

It's time for you to get off your ass and as they used to say on the 40 meter swap service out here, "follow the format".

Cheewhilikerrs, smack'em with a hamstick too!

http://t0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:O0UkcEQinIPGlM::picsdigger.com/keyword/honey%2520smacks/&t=1&usg=AFrqEzcj30v4kTKIeuPFQ0-SIMTaoLlrWw

[W3MIV]

If you're going to keep the original log in pencil on paper, then type the entries into a spreadsheet program to convert it to CSV file, then convert that into ADIF or Cabrillo, you may as well buy N3FJP's excellent set of contest logging programs, each of which is tailored to a specific contest and will prepare the final log in cabrillo for you. After all, if you're going to type it, why not pull those damned bananas out of your ears long enough to let some fresh air in and type it directly into the appropriate log.

Might even look into a cheap laptop.

[n0eq]

Sorry, Lumpster, but this is a case of you needing to get with the program, no pun intended.

Paper logs went the way of the dinosaur more than 20 years ago...



Fuck that "get with the program" crap. Contests should be about testing operating skills and equipment.
Now get the fuck out of my whine, will ya?


Craig 'Lumpy' Lemke
www.n0eq.com (http://www.n0eq.com)

[ki4itv]

Don't think you left enough clues in the first sentence Lumpy. :lol:

[WX7P]

Fuck that "get with the program" crap. Contests should be about testing operating skills and equipment.
Now get the fuck out of my whine, will ya?


Craig 'Lumpy' Lemke
www.n0eq.com (http://www.n0eq.com)

Wow, pretty testy, there, station.

You're right, contests are about testing operating skills and equipment. I categorize sending in a log via cabrillo as testing equipment and operating. The contest promoters set the rules. Follow them.

For the record, I'm not real big on cabrillo either, but I realized, oh, 20 FUCKING YEARS AGO, cabrillo is part of the process.

[n0eq]

...I realized, oh, 20 FUCKING YEARS AGO, cabrillo is part of the process.

I'm sure you're a fabulous cabrillo operator.

Point is, I MAY be able to wipe your ass with my old school technology.
But some of the contests won't allow me to demonstrate because they
only cater to appliance ops like you.

Hope your computer doesn't crash during the pile up.


Craig 'Lumpy' Lemke
www.n0eq.com (http://www.n0eq.com)

[kf0rt]

http://westton.com/misc/kapow.jpg

[WØTKX]

Neitzsche quote is perfect for the thread, and lulzy.

[NQ6U]

Neitzsche quote is perfect for the thread, and lulzy.

Ja, ve is der Übermensch.

[WX7P]

I'm sure you're a fabulous cabrillo operator.

Point is, I MAY be able to wipe your ass with my old school technology.
But some of the contests won't allow me to demonstrate because they
only cater to appliance ops like you.

Hope your computer doesn't crash during the pile up.


Craig 'Lumpy' Lemke
www.n0eq.com (http://www.n0eq.com)

Probably not, dipshit, and I don't use that term lightly, unless it's earned.

I'll go head to head with you on any contest, asshole.

You're a whiner, plain and simple.

[W4RLR]

I'm sure you're a fabulous cabrillo operator.

Point is, I MAY be able to wipe your ass with my old school technology.
But some of the contests won't allow me to demonstrate because they
only cater to appliance ops like you.

Hope your computer doesn't crash during the pile up.


Craig 'Lumpy' Lemke
www.n0eq.com (http://www.n0eq.com)I know that your rant was not directed at me. But your attitude is similar to many in the amateur radio hobby. "Things would be great if (pick one or more)they still had code testing/if you had to wait a year to make Extra/if you had to home brew all of your own rigs/if the young people had respect for amateur radio traditions/if use of computers were banned/if there was no such thing as EchoLink/if we fired everyone at the ARRL/if the FCC conducted testing instead of VE teams/if the only radio a ham could use was one that glowed in the dark..." Did I miss any rants and ravings?

Next thing I expect to hear from you or others of your ilk is the reintroduction of spark gap transmitters. Just because you seem to be a computer-adverse Luddite doesn't mean your ways of doing things are the ONLY ways of doing things. If you don't want to participate in contests, DON'T! I'll NEVER win a contest, but I enjoy hunting and pouncing DX for the hell of it. Using the computer as part of the tools of the trade comes naturally to me, as all through my working life, I have used computers in one form or another. It doesn't faze me. And using a computer is not rocket science. A child of six can use one.

Spare me your insults, I get enough crap from "the old guard of amateur radio" as it is. If I had a nickel for every cantankerous old fart who told me I'm not a "real ham" because I don't meet their "lofty" standards, I'd have forty acres in towers and antennas and enough radios to give the most die-hard contester a major league woody.

Have a fine Air Force day.

[NQ6U]

Hey, Lump, you think you got a problem--here's my log from last weekend's CQ World Wide DX Contest:

http://www.niasnet.org/old/cuneiform%20black%20color.jpg

Took forever to get it into Cabrillo format. Had to wait for the clay to dry first.

[WØTKX]

I loooooove the Cuneiform Format! :clap:

Did I mention Hamsticks? Tough crowd. :lol:

[W4RLR]

I wonder how many hamsters are in the wheel at Lumpy's shack...you know, the ones that power the generator to run the transmitter...:rofl:

[WX7P]

I know that your rant was not directed at me. But your attitude is similar to many in the amateur radio hobby. "Things would be great if (pick one or more)they still had code testing/if you had to wait a year to make Extra/if you had to home brew all of your own rigs/if the young people had respect for amateur radio traditions/if use of computers were banned/if there was no such thing as EchoLink/if we fired everyone at the ARRL/if the FCC conducted testing instead of VE teams/if the only radio a ham could use was one that glowed in the dark..." Did I miss any rants and ravings?

Next thing I expect to hear from you or others of your ilk is the reintroduction of spark gap transmitters. Just because you seem to be a computer-adverse Luddite doesn't mean your ways of doing things are the ONLY ways of doing things. If you don't want to participate in contests, DON'T! I'll NEVER win a contest, but I enjoy hunting and pouncing DX for the hell of it. Using the computer as part of the tools of the trade comes naturally to me, as all through my working life, I have used computers in one form or another. It doesn't faze me. And using a computer is not rocket science. A child of six can use one.

Spare me your insults, I get enough crap from "the old guard of amateur radio" as it is. If I had a nickel for every cantankerous old fart who told me I'm not a "real ham" because I don't meet their "lofty" standards, I'd have forty acres in towers and antennas and enough radios to give the most die-hard contester a major league woody.

Have a fine Air Force day.

Nice rant, Richard. And dead on.

Bizarre attitude coming from "Lumpster the Master Ham" since he only appears to have been licensed less than 20 years.

He can take that appliance operator bullshit and cram it where the sun don't shine.

[kf0rt]

If you don't want to hear me whine, click "back" and don't read..


You're a whiner, plain and simple.

The disclaimer was up front, Dave.

And on that note, this thread is "over."