A few weeks ago, I got a note in the mail from the National Contest Journal asking me to renew my subscription. The problem is: I already did. Right at the bottom of the original renewal notice, it says you can renew online. And I did. I also got the confirming renewal e-mail three weeks… Continue Reading
Category Archives: Commentary
Blame the day job
You would think the K9JY radio world went out someplace into the ionosphere and didn’t refract back! Blame it on the day job. The last couple of weeks have been extremely busy on some pretty important projects. Then throw in some infrastructure issues on my career site and hours in the day didn’t match up… Continue Reading
3830 is not the contesting winner’s site
Over on the contesting reflector, there have been days worth of posts suggesting that 3830 postings by contesters be required so you can see “results” faster than the contest sponsor’s results. While 3830 is a fabulous service and I strongly advocate posting scores there, 3830 is there for fun. It is one of the best… Continue Reading
Working on DXCC for the K9JY Site — July, 2008
During the month of July, 65 countries visited the K9JY site. I’m still working on getting it to 100. A true Log of the World — and thanks for visiting and commenting here. Scot, K9JY… Continue Reading
Independence Day, 2008
“in Order to form a more perfect Union” there is still much work to be done.… Continue Reading
Ban CW Skimmer from Contesting?
A petition is now out on the Internet that requests banning the CW Skimmer program and Related Enhancements for CW contests in any operating category. The petition says, in part: We love CW Contesting because it is CW Contesting. CW Contesting is enjoyed by Amateur Radio Operators worldwide who use their skills and stations to… Continue Reading
BPL — Good news, for a change
From the ARRL Web site: The US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit today released its decision on the ARRL’s Petition for Review of the FCC’s Orders adopting rules governing broadband over power line (BPL) systems. The Court agreed with the ARRL on two major points and remanded the rules to the… Continue Reading
Technology Trumps Existing Rules
There is a (long) conversation going on over at the Contest Reflector about how rules should be constructed around the new CW Skimmer software that recently made its debut for hams. The commentary ranges from letting a single operator use the software to placing that operator into an "assisted" category like packet to banning the… Continue Reading
What’s a Ham Radio Blog?
The ham radio community has been well served by the use of well-defined e-mail reflectors over the years. Each of these reflectors, representing a segment of our hobby, invites discussion about a singular ham radio topic. Blogs are both different and an extension of these reflectors. They are an extension of reflectors in that they… Continue Reading
Don’t know contest exchange? You are an idiot!
After virtually every contest, the e-mail reflectors light up with posts about the stupidity of contesters (usually new) who do not understand the exchange. Or the exact, best way to format the exchange to maximize every second of the expert contester’s time to achieve a winning score. The e-mails range from quietly supportive to out-and-out… Continue Reading