How about a QRP class that allows home QTH operations at low power? No
reason that the only QRP category should be portable. Low Power is
great for all of the stations that have the 100W multiband rigs, but the
folks using older gear that only have 5-10 watts to work with are
severely handicapped. They should at least have the opportunity to
improve their situation with the best antenna farm they can muster.
The point is to get the folks on the air, right?
And no, I've got around 100W on 2M, 300+W on 220 and 70W on 432 once I
get the antennas back in the air, so I'm not whining for my sake! It's
just that I've been there (will still have only 10W PEP on 6M for the
VHF QSO party, but that'll change soon after) with older 6 & 2M rigs in
the past and have seen the frustration firsthand in my experience as
well as the folks that I set up with the gear afterwards. They probably
would have been more encouraged if they knew their contest scores would
be judged against like stations instead of 100W stations simply because
of their operating location. If they build a nice antenna array to make
the best use of their low power levels, they certainly shouldn't be
penalized for it because of the rules lumping them into a class that
allows ten times the power!
I also like the idea of a limited single-op 4 band class; it might help
me a lot once I've got everything back on the air! For now, my goal is
simply to get the tower up with the 6M gear operational for the QSO
party. I'll be out looking for someone to sandblast a couple of parts
for the erection system today in hopes of having the tower up this week.
That should give me time to get the bugs worked out for single band
operations this time around.
Dan's a nice guy; got to meet him for the first time at this year's
Huntsville Hamfest and really enjoyed it. He seemed to especially enjoy
it when my daughter (KG4QII) came up begging for more money! I guess
that's one of those things that folks without children really enjoy ...
;-D
73,
Don T. AI4CW EM64
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