Foundations of Amateur Radio The Contesting Coin Toss for the rest of us If you've been part of the amateur community for a while and have heard me talk on matters of contesting, you'll know that I'm an avid contester and that for me it's better than sliced bread. Of course, I'm me and you're not. If contesting isn't of any particular interest to you, the hobby of amateur radio is big enough for at least 999 other attractions. I talk about them regularly. If you're on the fence, or if you're unsure, or if you are not enamoured with this whole contesting thing, then today I'd like to ask you to consider another aspect of this activity. Don't worry, I'm not going to tell you to participate in a contest. As I said, there are many other activities within the hobby. For example, testing propagation is a recurring theme, as is testing your gear, your radio, your skill and doing all manner of other amateur things. For many of those activities having another person to test with is often a way to get a result and if you find yourself on a lonely Saturday looking for a friend to help, I have a suggestion to make. It relates to contesting, specifically those on air. It turns out that there are radio amateurs on air almost all the time. Imagine that. Better still, when there's a contest on, there are even more radio amateurs around, all clamouring about, trying to make contacts, trolling up and down the bands, making an effort to hear new stations, calling CQ, generating signals from all over the place. Here's the thing. There is no rule that says that you have to be participating in the contest, or even log contacts for the contest, but there is no harm in you using the airwaves for your own enjoyment. Turns out that if you get on air during a contest, you can use that for example to do testing of all manner of things. If you've run out of things to test, you can use it to learn things, like how to use the RIT or \"Receiver Incremental Tuning\", something Yaesu calls the Clarifier, or the IF offset, or the noise-blanker, or the noise-filter, or the A/B VFO, or what ever it is that floats your boat. There are people all around you, getting on-air, making noise and you can join in with the fun. You can learn about the directivity of your station, observe how propagation changes, how the different bands react depending on the time of day, the solar cycle, or magnetic flux. If you have the opportunity, you can monitor the grey-line and observe its effects on what you can hear. You can look at a DX Cluster and see what you can hear, compared to what stations other amateurs are reporting. You can measure signal strengths, the impact of the AGC, test you battery life, your mobility, the layout of your shack and if you feel the urge, you can even log a rare station and add it to your log. No rule anywhere says that you have to participate in a contest, but why let a good opportunity go to waste? If you're an avid contester, you might think that I'm advocating that we fill the air with time wasters, people who shouldn't be there, people who are not worth your attention. I'm here to tell you that just because you're in a contest, doesn't mean that the rest of the world is and just because you want to make an exchange, not everyone else does. If I find myself having a conversation mid-contest with someone with a story to tell, I can participate in the discussion, or I can change the dial and call CQ contest somewhere else. The bands are a shared resource, for those who contest and for those who don't. The interesting thing in all this to me is that there seems to be a perception that you can only fall on one side of the coin. You're either a contester, or you're not and never the twain shall meet. That just makes no sense to me. There's an opportunity to sit on either side of the divide and harness both at the same time. I'm Onno VK6FLAB To listen to the podcast, visit the website: http://podcasts.itmaze.com.au/foundations/ and scroll to the bottom for the latest episode. You can also use your podcast tool of choice and search for my callsign, VK6FLAB, or you can read the book, look for my callsign on your local Amazon store, or visit my author page: http://amazon.com/author/owh If you'd like to participate in discussion about the podcast or about amateur radio, you can visit the Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/foundations.itmaze Feel free to get in touch directly via email: onno@itmaze.com.au, or follow on twitter: @VK6FLAB (http://twitter.com/vk6flab/) If you'd like to join the weekly net for new and returning amateurs, check out the details at http://ftroop.vk6.net, the net runs every week on Saturday, from 00:00 to 01:00 UTC on Echolink, IRLP, AllStar Link and 2m FM via various repeaters.
G'day Onno, I'm not a contester. I work CW only. I will give credit where credit is due, but if you have to rely on a computer to send and decipher your 25 WPM then you're not much of a contester or CW operator. Tnx for your thoughts on the subject and keep up the good work, OM.
WHAT coin toss? What's this got to do with contesting, or anything? Who the heck starts rag chewing during a contest? Not a contester.... Contesters rag chew over beers at meetings and dinners. Duh. If you want to talk to people who are not in the contest, then use frequencies that are not listed in the contest announcement.
I have never understood why anyone would "contest"; it seems like empty time and, when all done, no serious reward. It sure does mess up the bands more often than not.
It seems to me the target of this rather vague post is non-contesters and the objective is to urge them to not just QRT and/or complain but instead find a way to participate OTA during periods of contest activity. If so, that's a good thing. IMO, many who disapprove and shun contests are just turned off by the rapid brief QSO style. To each his own. But its not friendly to call CQ for rag-chews in the middle of a crowded contest band. That's just rude. There are areas of most bands and whole WARC bands that are not used for contesting. Spin the knob. On another hand, IMO, many non-contesters are intimidated by their perceptions of contests. The pressures of the transient rush-rush style of operating, the stress of pile-ups, the closely spectrum spaced QSO's that often result in unavoidable adjacent channel QRM. For those more mellow or ambivalent non-contesters, an explanation and encouragement should be broadcast; that those op's who do not log or plan to submit scores are still welcome to contact contest stations that may interest them. Contests are a good time to dwell on and practice basic radio operator skills and explore all the selectivity features built into modern receivers. Just listen awhile or read the rules to learn the expected QSO exchange and be ready to use it. In virtually all contests, QSO's with casual participants are still valid and actually are special, a much valued contribution to the score of the contester. If you only work one contester, thats still one QSO none of his competition will ever make. Savvy top contest op's will usually slow down and gladly help you through the QSO exchange. And for the non-contester it's a great way to earn QSO's toward operating achievement goals, ie, DXCC countries, WAS, grid squares, Special Event stations. While at times the pace of contests can be furious, especially at the beginning, as the event ages and/or propagation changes, the contest action becomes "worked out", ie, most of the regulars have made QSO's with each other. All the "low hanging fruit" has been picked. So the pace slows and the contesters call or search for targets that are new or "unique" stations. Those running CQ's may expend many calls between responses. That is the time when non-contesters should feel emboldened to engage them in a more casual, if still brief, QSO. Many times during contests in the waning hours I search the bands for familiar call signs and voices just to say hello and give them some points. If they respond to my call I drop their name and may ask "How is it going?" and not infrequently they appreciate the break in the routine and are happy to converse awhile before moving on. 73, John, WØPV
And that is the attitude that gets contesters bad names. Tell me what the hell is wrong with starting a conversation with someone while contesting. I have no use for contesting. Just another "mine is bigger than yours". Contest do nothing to allow you make the best use of your radio. If you contest, how many times have you tried to dig out the weak signal in the pile answering your CQ? You never have and never will. It's "beneath" you cause the moron aint got a big radio to give you a 59 so you pass him by. Not much operating technique there. Just answer the big signal is a no brainer. Any 5 year old can do that.
Totally agree. No one talks with people like a contester does. I've never seen anyone who would go to a crowded shopping mall and run up to folks and tell them his name, location, how well he can hear them, ask for the same information, then run to the next person and do the same. That would be ludicrous. Their awards are not even worth the paper they are printed on. They are like Boy Scout badges--no one except a scout or former scout gives a crap about those stupid, useless badges. And while I never interfere with any ham, and do not condone such, I feel like contesters do interfere with the bands, and so do those special events guys too.
Some folks are competitive. Some are not. If it's in your nature to be competitive and you are an Amateur Operator, you may like contesting. If you don't like contesting, phone Operators, Merit Badges or digitized CW well that is your prerogative. No one's asking you to. I like the intent of this OP. I have always taught New Amateurs that contesting may or may not be for you, time will tell BUT; you can get DXCC in a weekend on some of these contests. Don't overlook opportunity. Closed minds do that. YMMV.
There are WAY TOO MANY contests on the air. With that said, I still like to participate in one occasionally. They are great, for instance, for seeing how well you get out on 40m QRP. Also great for sharpening operating skills, and I'm sure we could all use a little of that. As far as competition, meh. I never submit logs or anything... Not a paper chaser.
Nor have I seen anyone who would go to a crowded shopping mall and just walk up to folks and chat with them from one end of the mall to the other, and then walk up to the next person and do the same. Both would be creepy, so what's your point? Wow! There must be a really sad story behind your disdain for Scouting. Why didn't you just say that If you don't do Ham Radio MY WAY, you're just wrong, and be more succinct?
That's like saying: 'what's wrong with peeling an onion while driving in the rain?' Contesting requires skill, speed, and precision which all keep the mind active and young. When's the last time you saw a doltish contester?
