My 2 cents (& my 2 cents are surely worth more to me than anyone else).
this is a licensed sport, I see it in some ways like fishing which is also a licensed sport; some catch and keep, some catch and release, some pay big bucks to fly to way out of the way places that most can't afford to do, to get the big fish, some fish the docks. Some like to go on Charter boats, some fish off the shore. Some get famous for fishing (River Monsters) and others compete in an even field to see whose skill is better. Some use a trot line, some use nets, some spear, some remove the barbs from the hooks, some try to get their families involved and some go fishing to get away from their families, and so on, and so on. Each of us has our idea of what Ham Radio should be. Some keep it to themselves, some feel the need to vent but one thing is for sure, we like finding other hams that think as we do. Some of us feel if someone sees things differently, then they are some kind of threat to what we hold sacred, anything negative in the woodpile is the beginning of the end. To me, each of us is competing against ourselves and anything else is like spitting into the wind. If I spent every penny I own on ham equipment, there will be so many more that have far more money than that available as chump change. Any contest I enter, no matter how well I did, someone in my call area could have done better if they had better location, equipment or time into it. All I can do is compete against me and then it is fun. If someone uses CW and hates FT8 or RTTY, whatever the mode and I use FT8, we're not competing against each other, but some see it as a threat to what they see as the brass ring. All my antennas are wire, how can I compete with stacked monobanders? My 160 is a sloper and at max, 50' tall, how can I compete with a full size 4 Square or better? I can't. Nor do I find any value in comparing what I have to do to make a Q compared to what they have to do to make the same contact. I'm happy for them, they're having fun and so am I so everyone wins. DXCC, I need one more for Honor Roll. It's my game against me, not me against some station that makes contacts easier than me. In that light; It's futile to complain about a mode someone else uses in getting the same award because its easier for them not doing it my way. Their award has a value to them and it's not up to me or within my power to assign worth just because I don't like their mode. I personally prefer CW, enjoy RTTY but RTTY is to me pretty much like FT8. One can argue that RTTY with N1MM+, MMTTY and a pan-adapter still require some playing with to make the Q but if the software were out there to do it as automatically as FT8 and make quicker Q's... you can bet your bottom dollar it would be the new contest mode the moment it's released. Bottom line is: If it is a popular mode it is not going away and nobody disliking it will make any difference in the final outcome. See, my 2 cents is worth more to me than anyone else. ;) Good DX & 73, Gary KA1J _________________ Topband Reflector Archives - http://www.contesting.com/_topband
