I used to shoot a little pistol competition and once saw a sticker on a gun box that said revolver shooters are the Jedi of action pistol competition.  It made me chuckle and still does.

Is a revolver easier to shoot than a semiauto? No.  Faster? No.  Easier to carry? No.  Lighter? No.  Hold as much ammo?  No.  Ever win the overall match?  Hell no!

Personally, I found an elegance in the dated design of revolvers.  I took pride in the consistent labor required for competence, and the staggering round count necessary to stay proficient.  I could never beat the semi-auto class winners so I took consolation that even in losing, I had skills the winner’s lacked.  As a former wheel-gun racer, the thought of this Jedi quip always makes me smile.    Here’s your smile.

POTA Activators are the Jedi of Amateur Radio.  It’s Obi-Wan Kenobi who said, “This is the weapon of the Jedi Knight. Not as clumsy or as random as a blaster; an elegant weapon for a more civilized age.” Pretty sure he was talking about QRP.

For an activator, it’s not about DX. Rather, it’s about the deployment, the best rig, antenna, best band and mode for the conditions.  It’s about slipping into the park silently, blending in, and making the Qs. Then vanishing without leaving a trace. Only the keenest park-folk notice, “Do you hear beeping? Wait … it quit.” POTA Jedi use the force, a refined balance of station, technique, and nature. 

The Shack Ham will overwhelm the exquisite physics of the natural world, beating nature into submission with tower, beam, and transmit power.  The Jedi will negotiate with nature and actually fold those natural properties into his station and into his technique.

Hot, cold, wet, dry, windy, or calm, the POTA Jedi must adapt his technique and equipment for the weather – every – single – time.  And failure takes many forms from blown over verticals, to soggy sprints to the car – from cold-numbed toes, to skeeter dogfights.

Instead of a tower, a Knight of Amateur Radio looks to nature.  He carefully selects a tree willing to lend a hand… err… branch.  For power, he can’t plug & forget like a Shack Ham so he must anticipate the current draw and mode and match it to a power source he can carry.  It’s not uncommon to find a POTA Jedi using solar panels to negotiate with the sun for electricity.

This is just humor.  Try not to take it too seriously.  Amateur radio has a niche for most every stripe of nerd.  And the Internet allows us each to crow like roosters that our interests are superior to all others.  Crowing don’t make it true, but it’s fun.

Thanks for reading and 73,
KA5TXN
DitWit