On 6/2/08, Stan Stockton <k5go@cox.net> wrote:
> The rules say:
>
> "Use of spotting nets or packet is not permitted."
Spotting *nets*. Local Skimmer, where the equipment is on your
premises, is not a "net". Nor is it "packet". Nets and packet
presume stations established by others, set up by others, whose
operating parameters have been set by others. Local Skimmer is
different: it's on your premises, and you're the one who sets up its
operating parameters - which band, etc..
I fail to see anything in the current rules, as written, that
prohibits use of a local Skimmer by single-operator entries. I would
suggest that for the IARU/ARRL to ban local Skimmer would constitute a
change in the contest rules, not an interpretation of existing rules.
Now, if the contest community decides local Skimmer for SO entries is
a bad idea, we should certainly reasonably expect contest sponsors to
consider changing the rules to ban it. (I think that's a bad idea,
but if I'm in the minority so be it..) I don't think we've reached
that decision - we are nowhere near unanimous on whether local Skimmer
should be permitted for SO entries.
Would it be fair to change the IARU rules to, say, impose the 500m
circle rule on HQ stations, *right now*, six weeks before the contest?
Barring near-unanimous support in an emergency situation, I think
it's a bad idea to change the rules this close to the starting gun.
If we decide we *must* ban local Skimmer for the IARU, we can do it in
the 2009 contest.
==
Doug Smith W9WI
Pleasant View, TN EM66
http://www.w9wi.com
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