As a new guy, all I can say is WOW!
There will always be unethical folks, and folks who disregard the spirit of
the rules and look for loopholes, but you should try to make the rules match
the spirit as closely as possible to avoid that ;)
With that said, I've been wondering about this captive rover idea. Why? Why
would anyone want to do that? All that trouble and gas and time... Then it
fit - it's a natural outgrowth of feeling then need to 'band together' to
achieve a goal. Whether or not anyone wants to admit it, the goal of a
contest is competing and winning. You can play any day. However, from my
'observational' point of view, as I have said before, there is a big chasm
between the top scorers and the rest (or so it is perceived). So, this
results in strategies that involve people banding together beyond just some
good buddies operating together - a sort of desparation tactic to win.
What is it you win in these contests? Is this a little out-of-hand?
The fix - create more 'winning opportunities' for less equipped stations.
More folks will see their ability to place on their own and not go to these
means. It's similar to the solution to gangs - disenfranchised groups of
people who see that the only way to 'place' in life is by banding together
for their own common good without regard to the ethics involved. Give the
individuals hope and opportunity and they see a path to success individually
rather than in the gang. You take out the 'reason' for the gang.
So provide more awards and the 'big one' won't be worth such extreme
measures, will it? Yes, you'll get some gripes, but I'll bet it will all be
from the stations in question.... AND - will it make it more fun for
everyone??
On the 2304 and above work your own guys rule - that's just an unfair thing!
I can see it's the equivalent to an 'economic incentive' (note how all these
issues are just real life social things put in a ham context?), but it seems
overkill - maybe even outdated. Social engineering at its finest - to get
folks on uWave. Perhaps one should look at why those bands need such
economic incentive and aren't growing naturally.... No answers, just an
observation. I don't go that high yet.
As far as only working your friends, or not working others, there's scum
everywhere. You can't legislate niceness. However, it is a failing attitude
to not work your competition. In case some folks don't do the math, if you
believe you have more Q's and more grids than the other group/person, then
adding them gets you more points than they get by adding you. You just
INCREASED your margin! If you get more grids than the other guy by the end,
that QSO you both counted from each other will increase YOUR MARGIN, given
the same number of Qs! Granted, you could make up for it by adding many more
QSOs and win (as an alternative), but he just needs one more Q and you've
lost your margin with the multiplier again with your strategy... In other
words, it adds total points to each to work each other, and benefits the
leader with possible margin. If you don't work him, the leader doesn't
change... he's still the leader if you're afraid of that ;)
Am I missing a loophole???
And on the single QSO participants, I don't claim to know all the tricks,
but I would assume that if someone were doing this intentionally, he'd show
up as one call/multiple bands. From a home station, that's possible and
reasonable. From a rover? Why would someone spend that time and gas and
obviously have all those bands to just be able to work one station? That
one's obvious. However, single FM contacts are good - I know several folks
who didn't know what a contest was and discussed it afterward on the
repeater and thought of trying after being asked to participate. Besides,
that one IS reasonable given all the 2m FM gear out there.
So, the new rule suggestion: "If a rover only contacts one station, but on
more than one band or grid, he only counts for one contact."
If he's out there and only does the one station, and drives all over and
that's all he does, he needs help ;) More than likely one of these 'bad
guys' being discussed. It's also pretty easy to automate the checking for
that - but don't do it from his log, do it from the other side maybe? That'd
be proof of multiple contacts. And if someone is thinking "what about the FM
guy in his car who happens to drive to a new grid?" - the vast majority of
'in the car mobile FM' guys are not going to even know their grid, much less
tell you when they are in a new one, so it is suspect there too if it
happens. And, the loss is only one point anyway...
Now, will this hurt the big guys? Probably not, but it may stop some of this
'rigging' that it sounds like happens and make things more gamesman-like.
Will it hurt the low scorer? Possibly, because there IS more of a chance of
someone trying to do 'all FM' because it's all they have, and mobile, and
somehow looking like they were 'odd'. But, they won't be in the big numbers
anyway, so their motivation isn't "win at all cost", but maybe just to try
it or to participate as some have said, so the EXACT point total is much
less of a concern. They still get out of it what they wanted. And the ones
in jeopardy here would only be single contact rovers... That's not a contest
;)
Now, how about a new rule idea?? Let's get rid of the "coherent light"
requirement for light. It's no different than other EM radiation, and the
'lower bands' don't have to be coherent, so why light? You don't even have
to BE coherent in QSOs on other bands ;) Seems stifling to new development.
The one mile or one km distance rule is good I think, and could even be
applied here (so one wouldn't be motivated to use flashlights to each other
on the deck like they can with uWave gear ;) . Anyway, I had an idea about
that a while back and got a LOT of responses, most positive, until someone
remembered the coherent rule... Let's get rid of that one!
I hope I don't feel like I'm submitting my tax return when I submit my
future scores one day - trying to do it right and follow all the rules, yet
hoping I didn't trip over any and make a mistake because there are so many
rules.....
73, Skip
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Dr. Skip Coppola, KG4QDZ
EM73ru
6m, 2m, 70cm: SSB, FM, & Digital modes
NWS Advanced Spotter
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