I'm afraid I have very little to say to contests, let alone 'elite' contests, mostly because they seem to be the preserve of the compulsive-obsessive, and hardly ever seem to include women.
I had never heard of this contest, and was irritated to see it is an exclusive, invitation-only event. Looking at the Wikipedia entry for the contest, there is indeed no obvious mention of any women featuring in any of the several years' worth of 'winners' - if they are, in any meaningful sense, winners at all.
Of course, highlighting this to most of the radio community is like inviting someone to punch you in the face. Nobody sees the lack of women or younger participants as remotely a cause for concern, let alone the 'big gun' exclusivity of it all.
My view of amateur radio is very, very different from a lot of the mainstream's views. I always strive to include, not exclude people, and show them how effective cheap, simple radio can be. I have no time for huge Yagis, amplifiers and 48 hours of nonsensical points gathering.
Worse than my personal prejudices against the contesting fraternity is the very retrograde message that all this machoistic exclusivity sends out to those who might be interested in radio.
I have seen exactly this same kind of exclusivity emerge in amateur astronomy, especially in imaging. The clear motivation in these astronomy 'closed clubs' is to ensure those who are best at self-promotion in the hobby media, and who are in a position to simply keep on buying the best, most expensive equipment, maintain their self-perceived importance. It is, frankly, pathetic.
Anybody can create a world according to what they value by excluding the 'undesirables'. I'm afraid this lot is merely creating its own 'elite' of people so that they can comfort themselves with that accolade. I suggest we give them as little further attention as possible.
1 comment:
WRTC is a radio-game for the best contesters of the world. Everyone enjoys the hobby another way. I don't mind if they want to compete between "elite" contesters as long as they don't bother me. Personally I like the big 48h contests like the CQWW SSB/CW but just for the fun of it. At the end of this year we will take part with a group of fine radioamateurs from here, just as friends and as a solid team. We want to win and get better but just as important is the friendship and be part of the team to accomplish something we all like to do but can't do on our own. Hamradio contesting just for the fun of it and of course everyone is welcome to visit us. 73, Bas
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