I kind of have to agree with Steve on this one. It seems that after each VHF
contest comes the eventual "VHF Reflector Rover Roast". Bottom line is I
don't see where getting a bunch of hams out making contacts is bad in
anyway. These guys are generating contacts and interest in the hobby and I
bet they are having fun doing it too!
Personally I rove during some contests and head up a multiop for others.
When I am in the multi op envrionment all our operators are well aware of
the rovers in the area and keep tabs on them as best we can. We never work
them in all the grids they visit even though we'd love too. As a rover I
know the stations in the area both fixed and roving that are going to hear
me with my limited capabilities as a rover and I try to make sure they all
have a chance to work me as a rover. Even more enjoyable is the possiblity
of an eyeball QSO over a coke and or coffee, maybe we need to add a mult for
that too..... Just kidding!
In my humble opinion it would seem to me that the more we add rules to the
contests the more we make it like doing a tax return having to remember
which rules apply to me in a given situation. It would seem that if you are
inclined to stop or at least keep "Grid Dancing" or "Grid Circling" in check
the easy way to do it is by limiting how often you can change grids to every
hour or two. On top of that you can only activate any one grid twice. If you
do this you still allow the rovers that are playing by the spirit of what
would seem good radio sportsman ship to continue in the manner they are
accustomed to and yet still allow the rover teams a bit of flexiblity to
play the game the way they like to with out building such a high score that
we need to have another one of these barage of emails after each contest
deals. Hopefully in the end you level the scores a bit. This idea would take
away from a lot of the rovers I know in the area and I do have issues with
that as none of them do what I feel is outside the spirit of fair
contesting.
The idea of 6 digit grid keeping, if you will, won't do much of anything
other than keep people that just got that new 706 or 857 and they heard
someone call CQ contest on 2 from getting really involved in contesting as
they drive to the store or are out and about. What kind of encouragement is
it to say you can't play if you don't know your exact position but you do
know what 4 digit grid you are in. Also consider if I can change to 8
different 6 digit grids by just traveling 10 to 20 miles or less imagine the
grid dance that could be done then? Sure distance will help but huge QSO
numbers won't hurt either. And if I can get one fixed station out there at
about 200 miles to be on my team what a score I could get from those 6 grids
on the distance side of things. Each contest our group works close to a
dozen to two of the of type folks that just want to get out and have a bit
of fun and see if they want to explore VHF contesting more, some will some
won't. Others know we are out contesting they come on the air to show
support of efforts as we do theirs by giving us a few contacts along the
way. Lets remember that we need to encourage participation in these contests
not discourage it by adding new rules after every one of the contests.
So Endth the Sermon!
73
Tom - K9TMS
President Stoned Monkey VHF
-----Original Message-----
From: vhfcontesting-bounces@contesting.com
[mailto:vhfcontesting-bounces@contesting.com] On Behalf Of Stephen Hicks,
N5AC
Sent: Thursday, February 12, 2009 3:29 PM
To: vhfcontesting@contesting.com
Subject: Re: [VHFcontesting] Lunch Box Roving
I had some original concerns about this type of contesting, primarily
because I was having to compete in the same class. We've now separated the
classes so folks doing this are either in the unlimited rover category or
they have a limit of 100 contacts. If Wayne and his friends are having fun
and it's not messing with the scores/rank of those doing what we might
consider more traditional roving, what's the problem? Everyone has different
motivations in contesting. Some chase the score, some the DX, some do it
just for the friendship and fun. I guess if folks are going to complain
about this type of operating, rather than complain that AT&T might find out
that we are grid circling (as if they would know or care), I'd like to hear
how this specifically bothers your operating style or enjoyment of the
contest. To point to an unknown third party and state that they might not
approve if they knew seems disingenuous ...
Calls for Wayne and company to publish logs has come and gone and Wayne did
publish his logs a few years back. He made lots of other contacts outside
of his group.
I don't know Wayne personally, but I would like to ask a question those that
are concerned about his operating style: when was the last time you got
someone involved in roving or microwave contesting that became confident
enough to take a 10-band station in a car a few days after getting a license
and make a bunch of contacts?
I just don't think it's necessary that we all like everyone else's operating
style or reasons to have fun. Heck I think the guys that put a radio on
stilts in the South Pacific to put a rock with a callsign on the air are
sorta nuts. I'm not fond of talking to all of the locals on the 2m repeater
about the weather and their plans for the weekend. But I don't think we
should forbid them from doing those things ...
73,
Steve, N5AC
Message: 1
Date: Mon, 9 Feb 2009 09:00:50 -0800
From: frank bechdoldt <k3uhf@hotmail.com>
Subject: [VHFcontesting] Lunch box roving
To: <vhfcontesting@contesting.com>, <w7dhc@earthlink.net>
Message-ID: <BAY111-W54B3E5CBE0A2F39E079E3FECBC0@phx.gbl>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="Windows-1252"
What does it accomplish when a bunch of hams borrow one of 8 millionaire?s
lunch box stations and activate the bands by repetitively contacting each
other?
The ARRL uses contests to create activity to justify the frequency
allocations we now enjoy. I would imagine that a group of 8 rovers in 3
roving categories could generate about 25 percent of the total QSOs of the
entire QSO count of the whole contest.
If Verizon, AT&T, ect? knew that the ARRL is using data collected from the
use of Wayne?s lunchboxes to block them from purchasing this spectrum they
would have a legal field day.
Their posting http://www.arrl.org/contests/soapbox/?con_id=171 proves what I
have said all along. The only way to fix the roving system is to disallow
rover to rover contacts unless both rovers are unlimited. Otherwise Wayne
is going to keep buying more lunch boxes find more people we have never seen
in our VHF log books to complete larger teams and stick his finger in the
ARRL?s and VUAC?s eye.
That being said, if this was done only in the unlimited class, it would be
appropriate and quite remarkable. But I think by buying 8 lunch boxes Wayne
and handing some of them off to repeater operators is his way of saying the
current system is broken too.
I only hope that his effort converted some FMer to true weak signal work. In
fact if he was truly concerned in boosting the activity levels e would let
those operators mount the equipment at their home QTH?s. Otherwise this
contest has turned into a function of Wayne?s ego.
If I'm wrong, publish the logs.
k3uhf _________________________________________________________________
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------------------------------
Message: 2
Date: Mon, 9 Feb 2009 12:18:59 -0500
From: Steve Clifford <k4gun.r@gmail.com>
Subject: Re: [VHFcontesting] Lunch box roving
To: frank bechdoldt <k3uhf@hotmail.com>
Cc: w7dhc@earthlink.net, vhfcontesting@contesting.com
Message-ID:
<cf8c8bec0902090918qdb12bf0tedb256f64406267a@mail.gmail.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=windows-1252
I agree completely, but would also add a few comments (surprise, right?
LOL). This practice is no different than what the multi-op contest groups
do. In a large contest club, its usually a few key guys that buy, maintain,
set up and test all the equipment. Those guys are really the ones who do
all the heavy lifting. On contest weekend, the rest of the club shows up to
operate the radios. Its a remarkable feat. They do a great job of
coordinating between stations. They have superior stations, a good plan and
make a lot of noise.
They also have a great time. There is often a camaraderie that is not known
to single op guys. Its fun. Its also a great education for those that are
new to the contesting scene.
There is also nothing at all wrong with it. The multi-op stations compete
against other multi-op stations. The rules were well thought out to
segregate multi-ops from single ops. A single op guy can't make contacts
with a multi-op group if he later operates with that multi-op group.
To me, it just indicates that the rules just need a little more tweaking to
make sure multi-op groups are not put into the same category as lone rovers.
Let the multi-op grid group have their fun. I have nothing against them at
all, except that they have exposed a weakness in the current rules.
I have more thoughts on this and I'll share them in due course. The N6NB
soapbox really made a few things very clear to me and I just need to
organize a few more thoughts on it.
Steve
K4GUN/R
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