cly@cbdkc1.UUCP (Carl Yaffey) (09/25/84)
Some company is advertising a dx contest simulator package that runs on a Commodore 64. When I read about it, I thought it very funny. Imagine sitting down to your computer and working dx all weekend without a transmitter, receiver, or antenna! How dumb! But after thinking some more, it sounded like fun. It supposedly does a very good job of simulating band conditions, operator calls, etc. As you "tune" the band (by pressing a key on the Commodore keyboard) you encounter the "hot" operators at the low end (the package is CW only), and the slower folks as you move up. As time goes by, the "band" changes appropriately. The different bands are realistic also. A transceiver is drawn on the monitor screen. The part that intrigued me the most was that you could enter your location and have the whole thing be appropriate for that place. For instance, you could find yourself on a rare island and in the middle of constant pileups. The package constantly displays statistics so you can see "how you're doing" and so you can compete against others. In fact the company is going to give "awards"! Another feature is realistic responses from the "stations" you work. They respond to QRS and requests for repeats, etc. Has anybody out there actually tried this thing? I'd like to know if it is as realistic as it is supposed to be. It might be fun, and could certainly be used as a tool to train oneself for contest operating or to just "brush up" on skills. Carl Yaffey K8NU cbosgd!cbdkc1!cly -- Carl Yaffey at AT&T Bell Laboratories Columbus, Ohio 614-860-3399 cbosgd!cbdkc1!cly
karn@mouton.UUCP (09/26/84)
The product you're referring to is called "Dr. DX" and is sold by AEA. I learned about this wonderful little gimmick during a visit to ARRL HQ the other week. It turns out that the AEA people love to play practical jokes with this thing, and it is remarkable how many people they had absolutely fooled at Dayton. One Japanese amateur radio company representative's eyes almost popped out when he apparently saw the AEA guy working a DX pileup using a ball-point-pen as the "antenna". Perhaps this says something about the intellectual challenge level of working CW DX? Phil