As one who has perhaps written the book, or at least the NCJ articles, on
mobile contesting, I don't agree with counting a non-operating driver as an
operator.
In Florida, I do a single op, no driver entry. The basic rule: do most of the
operating while parked, typically shortly after entering a county, and do the
mop-up operating while driving. And the most important rule: DO NOT ATTEMPT TO
KEEP A LOG WHILE DRIVING! Record the contest, or at least the driving part,
for later transcription. This works only in states without QSO numbers -
keeping track of them while driving is too much of a distraction to be
operating while driving.
In Ohio, we have no distinction between mobile single op or multi-op, and we
don't care who drives. Anyone who enters as a no-driver single op has to
understand that he is unlikely to be competitive vs. an op or ops with a
driver. And as a contest sponsor, I'd hate to have to explain in court why we
specifically provided for people to be driving while operating.
Pennsylvania considers a driver as an operator. So my XYL has qualified as a
contest op while driving across PA on the way to visit our daughter in NJ
during a PAQP weekend. But she still does not like driving.
But regardless of the rules, mobile contesting in the state QSO parties is a
blast. And speaking of Pennsylvania, I'll be out mobile on Saturday in the
PAQP, sharing driving and operating with Gary, AF8A. Hope to work lots of you
then!
73 - Jim K8MR
-----Original Message-----
From: Jim Brown <k9yc@audiosystemsgroup.com>
To: cq-contest@contesting.com
Sent: Mon, Oct 5, 2020 2:16 pm
Subject: Re: [CQ-Contest] Question about category
On 10/4/2020 1:47 AM, Tonno Vahk wrote:
> ARRL in his FAQ even defines it:
>
> “Operating” includes all methods of soliciting and making QSOs.
Neither ARRL or CQ are the rule-makers for all contests. I know of at
least one state QSO party that considers the driver of a mobile entry an
operator. For mobile operation, I consider this entirely fair to
differentiate this from one person in a mobile who both drives and
operates. Certainly operating and logging while also driving is quite
challenging; the alternative is for the single person to drive between
setups, park, and operate, in both cases with self-contained antennas
and power capable of operation in motion.
73, Jim K9YC
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