Just Ranting - Submitting Contest Logs

[n0eq]

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

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..

Rant off.

Craig 'Lumpy' Lemke
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...

[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.

[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..

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..

Rant off.

Craig 'Lumpy' Lemke
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. Have a "possible" beer.

[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