[GreenKeys] The "new Ham"

[Kevin H. Phillips]

I guess I'll jump in on this one.  The contest running is the CQ World
Wide WPX RTTY Contest.  I've been trying to work it although not having
much luck with my dipole around 20ft off the ground.  I'll confess I am
using "glass" although it is a HAL DS-3100ASR (the first contest I worked
I made a little over 50 contacts using a Model 15 so do I get points for
that?  hihi).  I'm pretty new to contesting and have been fortunate, so
far, not to have encountered much of the lack of civility just mentioned. 
But, since I also monitor the RTTY listserv, I have noticed that much of
the talk centers around how to cut down exchanges to the barest number of
nanoseconds, how to set up macros, how to set up the logging software to
interact with the decoding software, etc., etc., etc.  I have decided that
most people probably just aren't hearing me (especially on 20m; the
majority of my contacts have been on 40m) but it gets pretty frustrating
when I hear a station calling CQ and answer them and by the time I type my
reply and the buffer on the DS-3100 has finished sending "DE W5TTY W5TTY
K" and my carrier drops, I start seeing the end of their next CQ or TEST
or whatever.  I guess they are just hitting their macro button a few
nanoseconds after the first CQ macro finishes sending.  Jeeeez.  (My setup
here is the aforementioned DS-3100ASR, a Yaesu FT-1000D, HAL ST-8000 and
ST-6000).

73
Kevin
W5TTY


> There is a new breed of "Ham" out there...but, in
> the early days we learned to "listen first". In other
> words, listen to what's going on before just
> jumping in.
>
> If it weren't for contests, the HF Ham bands would
> be a "vaste wasteland". By the way, it's usually the old
> timers who are on the contests... they're not so great, either.
>
> A recent QST article praised the new ARRL president for actually
> getting on the air to work some rare station. Of course, she did
> it over IRLP...! Of all the photographs in QST, you rarely
> see a person sitting in front of a radio...it's always a PC.
>
> Heard a lot lately..."I have an Amateur Radio license, but I'm
> not a Ham".   (This is the new breed "no radio" crowd.)
>
>
> Jack K0TTY
>
> NNNN
>
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: greenkeys-bounces at mailman.qth.net
> [mailto:greenkeys-bounces at mailman.qth.net] On Behalf Of Larry Tighe
> Sent: Saturday, February 12, 2011 7:43 AM
> To: Jeffrey Angus; GreenKeys
> Subject: Re: [GreenKeys] lack of civility
>
> Hey!  Been there and ended up the same way as you Jeff.  Those bands
> aren't
> what they were years ago.  The appliance operators are a different
> breed
> anymore.  Today's sideband contact goes something like this....how's
> my
> audio?  Oh yeah, how's this mike sound?
> So much for the tech discussions of years gone by.
>
> Too, thank goodness for ITTY and Heavy Metal.  I had a similar RTTY
> contact
> to yours  LOL  probably glass!
>
> Lar
> K2JIA
>
>
> !Subject: [GreenKeys] lack of civility
>
>
>> Apparently there's an RTTY contest going on.
>> So I hear someone calling CQ and answer them.
>> (Callsign withheld) When I asked them "what number?",
>> their response was "Just give me a damn number."
>>
>> Ok, guess I'll go back to copying ITTY instead.
>>
>> So much for trying to enjoy the radio.
>>
>> Jeff-1.0
>> wa6fwi
>>
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