Pete, You edited out much of my comment in your response....so my remarks appear somewhat out of context. I reiterate, I am not defending or justifying the practice, or in any way saying that signal reports are needed (or even wanted) in contest exchanges. I was merely stating what I know to to be fact (as an experienced contester and former relatively active DXer myself) that the inclusion of such information is based on long standing tradition and past practice. As for the statement about getting the message through, I disagree with your assessment that the requirement for the accurate exchange of some information beyond just a call sign does not demonstrate more of a challenge (skill and patience) in "getting the message through".. That exchange can be a signal report, a grid square, a name, the year licensed, or whatever. Whether or not that demonstration is really relevant to the contest scene is certainly a matter of opinion and defining the desired measure of accomplishm ent in winning or scoring points.
An interesting twist with the WAE DX contest is that it includes the opportunity for exchange of "QTCs" . The QTCs are short messages containing the exchange information from previously completed contest QSOs re sent to another participant. This adds another dimension and a bit more of a challenge in transmitting more information for additional points. Much modern contesting has reverted to rebot-like exchanges between highly automated stations. In the DX world, which overlaps a lot with contesting, the generally recognized standard requirement for completion of a valid exchange includes a call sign and signal report. The point being, that if they are all 5-9 or 599, you have removed part of that requirement, and it would seem, made it even easier to accomplish the feat of contacting the DX station. 73, Jack, W9GT -------------- Original message -------------- From: Peter Markavage <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Like a lot of things in amateur radio, this old tradition has no real > value in contesting. And, in contests where a signal report is still > required, whether you say 5-9, 599, 4-5, or 6-9, the challenge of > "getting the message through" hasn't been removed. As I said in a > previous message, most contesters as there for "point-count" i.e. your > required exhange, my required exchange; Done! Next contact, etc. > > Pete, wa2cwa > > > On Tue, 02 Oct 2007 11:02:45 +0000 [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: > > It is a just a tradition, standard and common practice that > > has been continued for many years. IMHO, giving everyone a 5-9 or > > 599 is just a shortcut and really removes part of the challenge of > > "getting the message through". From the DX or DXpedition's point of > > view, it is just an expedient. > > > > 73, Jack, W9GT > > > ______________________________________________________________ > Our Main Website: http://www.amfone.net > AMRadio mailing list > List Rules (must read!): http://w5ami.net/amradiofaq.html > List Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/amradio > Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.html > Post: mailto:[email protected] > To unsubscribe, send an email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with > the word unsubscribe in the message body. ______________________________________________________________ Our Main Website: http://www.amfone.net AMRadio mailing list List Rules (must read!): http://w5ami.net/amradiofaq.html List Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/amradio Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.html Post: mailto:[email protected] To unsubscribe, send an email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the word unsubscribe in the message body.
