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GB7LDI > DATA 23.02.03 17:15l 143 Lines 7160 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
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From: GB7LDI@GB7LDI.#35.GBR.EU
To : DATA@WWW
Newsletter #140
20 February 2003
Please feel free to forward this newsletter to any and all interested parties, or to reproduce it in any publication. All we ask is that
you give credit where it is due.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
SHORT NOTES: Ron ZL1AMO returned! N4AL spotted him working his first QSO (AH3D) since his air evacuation to NZ.
You might like to see Ron celebrating his 66th birthday, home and well! Go www.qsl.net/aa0mz/zl1amo.htm. Good news for all!
It has been reliably reported that Mailwasher, the software program that allows you to view your Email on the ISPs server does
not work with AOL. If you have experienced this little blip, please let me know. It traces to the fact that AOL does not use
POP3. Meanwhile Mailwasher support in New Zealand is working on the problem.
Almost here! The NCJ RTTY NAQP is coming on February 22 and starts at 1800Z. All rules are at www.ncjweb.com. Team
registration is also at this site. Go team!
>>>
Quotes of the month: Wayne from Maine KC1YF say, I agree that SO1R should be a category by itself. I have two radios . . .
I suppose I COULD use both of them. But I think well get more participation if we have the new category. Frank N2FF joined
in, I do think we need a SO1R category. Most of the 2R guys I worked near the end of the contest had nearly 1000 more
QSOs than I did. It was pretty obvious that we were not in the same contest and or category. Nuff said!
And, on quite a different wavelength, Army AE5P checked in with a VERY good excuse for not appearing in a contest. Sorry I
missed this last one, but things have been pretty busy in Nacogdoches (the oldest town in Texas). The Shuttle Columbia passed
just a few miles south of our home with a noise so loud our house shook so much we thought we were having an earthquake.
Our Skywarn/ARES group immediately activated, and I found myself at our city EOC manning a radio just one hour after the
accident. We have been providing communications support for the recovery operation ever since. Material from the shuttle is
everywhere in this area. Thanks, Army.
>>>>
The Ukraine RTTY CHAMPIONSHIP test is coming up soon. The first two hours at 2200Z on March 1, the second two at at
0000Z on March 2. This is a strange oneonly four hours long and only for RTTY and 160/80M. Where are those bands?
Dick N1RCT returned to the fold in the most recent contest. By his own admission he made 160 contacts. Look for him.
Unfortunately, he lost his QSO log. It contained 29000 contacts and is now in the stomach of a virus. Too bad. In any event,
welcome back Dick and I hope to see you on PSK31 soon.
Bob KI4MI/6 surprised me with news of a new mode, new practice and new frequency. According to Bob, there is a now a
version of MixW (2.07), which can send/receive pictures via the MFSK mode. It will handle any sized color or b/w .bmp or
.jpg file, but something between 100X100 and 300X300 pixels gives the best results and takes only 1-2 minutes to send. The
macro identifies the file, inserts it and fires away. On the receiving end, text halts, the picture pops up and SSTV delivers. Then
all go back to text. This is worth a look. Go to 14.109.5 and learn. Then try www.nvbb.net/~jaffejim/downloads.htm.
>>>>
According to the ARRL newsletter FCC Counsel Hollingsworth recently suggested a solution to the growing FCC interference
enforcement problem. Peer pressure and more courtesy would go a long way. Amateurs should operate in such a way that
listeners will be impressed and not offended by it. Apparently both 20 and 40 meters are the enforcement hotspots but
enforcement is no substitute for courtesy and common sense. The reaction of some hams to interference or perceived
interference can be worse than the original interference! Dont overreact. The best reaction is no reaction. Well said, Mr. Special
Counsel. Let us try not to shoot ourselves in the foot.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Once again the Internet has been burdened by the infinite flow of both invective and wisdom, the volume of which most often
peaks during those deadly hours after a major contest. Once again the subject related to the quality of the exchange transmitted
by the unwashed, untrained, unknowing beginners or devil-may-care types who often pollute the airwaves with their lack of
expertise and discipline. Problems are evident to all. Exchanges are too long and often sent out of sequence, use an unnecessary
number of characters, use only 001as a serial number, and so on and on. Problems, in fact, outnumber solutions by at least 10 to
1.
There are those who think the Dayton experience, including the informal gathering in the RTTY hospitality suite and the seminar
(if not the Saturday dinner), must be devoted the training of these troops. This might lead to shaving a second or two off the
average exchange in the next contest or, as some suggested, it might frighten away a significant number of folks who might have
become interested in that part of the hobby.
Methinks there is an attitude problem here . . . and it is not the attitude of those being criticized. In my humble opinion, the
majority of those who show up in a contest are there for the FUN of it. They have no hang-ups about the brevity or military
correctness of their exchange, may not have the latest in hardware or software and just may want to put a little humanity into the
mixture! And, if they want to learn more and become more serious about the subject they can go to http://www.rttyinfo.net. The
site offers a rich menu of self-help information.
The minority, those very serious almost professional competitors who see every contest as a life or death struggle, want every
entrant, even those who just want to make a few contacts, to conform to their strict code of behavior. No excessive repeats, no
greetings, no personality allowed, thank you very much. This attitude will not spread like a plague among those who just simply
cant be that serious about the exercise.
Roger G3LDI spoke up and called a spade a spade. I have operated dozens of RTTY contests ever since the days when we
had to wear ear-plugs, carry an oil-can, and write with a pencil in a real log-book, giving real RST reports, and greeting others
by
name. This talk about a redundancy of hyphens, or sending the exchange twice, or even greeting somebody by name, and the
worst in my opinion - having the so-called RST programmed into a macro - all these are counter-productive to the very spirit of
the contest.
Entering a contest is supposed to be an enjoyable experience. Agreed, we all strive to do our very best, but let's not pick too
many nits, or it will destroy the amateur spirit altogether. Politeness does not take too much from the time, and a GM or GE and
a TU at the end is a nicety that we ought to send.
I am definitely one of the OLD school. I enter a contest for the pleasure of participation and winning anything is a bonus.
Thus, the argument goes on, and on and on.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
73 de Jim N2HOS
jem@n2hos.com
GAZETTE at
www.n2hos.com/digital
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