On Jun 8, 2007, at 7:30 AM, Lee Hiers wrote:
> Yes it is, but doesn't it require a minimum participation in the form
> of score submission for SECC in a year? The point of my original
> question was if all our AL members are now submitting scores for the
> ACG, there would be less reason to not move the circle.
Two points here.
1) The bylaws are clear that to be a member in good standing you must
make two submissions crediting the SECC each year. This has been
interpreted very broadly. First, it doesn't just include ARRL
contests, but also CQ contests, and other competitive events, such as
NAQP or Sprint teams also qualify. (Even members far outside the ARRL
circle can join an NAQP or Sprint team -- and there are six NAQP and
six Sprint events each year (CW, Phone, RTTY) so there should be
ample opportunity) Second, although the bylaw exists -- it is
difficult to enforce. We've never actually taken any sort of
membership action based on non-participation with the SECC. Part of
this is because the bylaw is difficult to police. For ARRL contests,
grabbing the web results is pretty easy. But what of the other
events? It's a lot more work to correlate down to who participated
and who didn't.
2) The accusation has been leveled several times that the AL members
have abandoned the SECC for the ACG. I don't see how anyone can know
this. First, the ACG has only been accredited by the ARRL since
January -- so there's only a handful of ARRL contests an AL member
could have submitted for the ACG instead of the SECC. Further, most
of these ARRL contest events since January have not had their results
posted. (For the RTTY roundup, there are no AL scores for the SECC.
In fact, the ACG scored higher than the SECC. For the January VHF
sweepstakes, the ACG did not participate, and the SECC only had one
member (K4BAI) submit scores)
Second, not all contests are ARRL events, so the ARRL circle is
somewhat academic.
Third, the year is not yet over. Who knows, our AL members may decide
to submit scores for the SECC.
Finally -- if our goal is to increase the SECC participation from our
AL contingent -- I would suggest that our first step would be to
encourage them, rather than alienate them by making accusations.
--
Frankly, I don't see the issue. The purpose of the SECC is to
encourage contest participation. If the AL members have formed a new
club and show greater cohesiveness as a group than the SECC (as
demonstrated in the RTTY Roundup) then more power to them. Perhaps
the SECC can learn a lesson in building a stronger contest club -- it
ain't about the "circle", guys, it's about the people.
Bill Coleman, AA4LR, PP-ASEL Mail: aa4lr at arrl.net
Quote: "Not within a thousand years will man ever fly!"
-- Wilbur Wright, 1901
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