ARRL VHF/UHF Contesting and Awards Survey
NEWINGTON, CT -- October 7, 2002=20
With a higher proportion of VHF-only licensees than ever before, one =
might expect that VHF/UHF contesting would be experiencing a surge in =
popularity. To the contrary, while the total QSOs being made in the =
multi-band contests seems steady, the number of logs - and thus the =
number of serious participants - has fallen off considerably since 1996. =
This has led the ARRL to ask you for your thoughts on why this might be =
happening and how to best address and reverse the trend. We'd also like =
to hear from you about the ARRL VHF/UHF awards program in general.=20
The survey is the result of a request from the ARRL Board to look into =
ways to increase participation. It is being sent to a random sample of =
regular top-scorers and average participants, regardless of their score, =
plus clubs that regularly participate in VHF/UHF club competitions. Our =
interest is in gathering information we can use to improve the =
participation and quality of both the various ARRL VHF/UHF contests and =
the ARRL VHF/UHF awards programs. The detail and quality of information =
in your answers is especially important to us.=20
The Survey -=20
The survey is organized into several areas of inquiry. The first group =
deals exclusively with contesting:=20
Existing contests - how can their formats, rules, or reporting be =
improved such that activity and log submissions are increased? This =
survey refers to the following ARRL sponsored contests: January VHF =
Sweepstakes, June & September VHF QSO Parties, August UHF Contest, 10 =
GHz and Up competition, and the Oct/Nov EME Contest=20
New contest formats - are there new formats that would be attractive to =
the existing contest community?=20
New participants - what improvements or additions to VHF/UHF contesting =
would attract more operators to the sport? How can these operators be =
reached?=20
A second area of interest is the ARRL VHF/UHF awards program and =
increasing the level of interest and participation. The existing awards =
such as VUCC, WAS, and DXCC, are derivatives of the HF awards program. =
There is some concern that these awards either have too high an initial =
qualification level or may be missing some interests of VHF/UHF =
operators. There are two groups of questions:=20
Existing awards - how can their rules or categories might be improved so =
that more activity is encouraged?=20
New awards - are there new award programs that would be attractive to =
VHF/UHF operators?=20
Responding=20
Each topic has a series of questions related to either VHF/UHF =
contesting or awards. Please select the answer that best matches your =
position or situation. Please feel free to extend your remarks (use =
additional pages if necessary). Your detailed comments are very =
important.=20
The survey is downloadable as an Adobe Acrobat file on the web at =
http://www.arrl.org/contests/announcements/vhf-survey.pdf=20
It should be completed and returned by regular mail to: VHF/UHF Survey, =
attn: Wayne Mills, N7NG, ARRL, 225 Main St, Newington CT 06111. We would =
like to have the returned surveys by October 31st. You may copy the =
blank survey and distribute it to other amateurs, particularly to =
operators that may not be active in VHF/UHF contesting now. A summary of =
the results will be available in the future.=20
Thanks and 73
Dan Henderson, N1ND
ARRL Contest Branch Manager
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