THANK YOU. Speaking from CA, there was a decrease in microwave activity
after the advent of limited-multi. I know of a couple big multi's out here
that stopped brining microwave gear even after being informed that the
could still make contacts on those bands, but only submit ABCD scores for
the contest per the rules. Only recently has microwave contest activity
made a resurgence out here, mostly due to a few hard core guys and several
rovers that are trying to stay competitive. 10GHz and up is a totally
different beast though, as I believe the trend lines for this contest is
towards increasing activity.
If people only want (are able) to be competitive on one or a few bands, the
ARRL has always given section awards for individual band winners and those
winners were signified with BOLD LETTERS in the contest results. I don't
think there is a need for any (well one or two max, carefully crafted)
entry classes. Actually, the current output power classes are arbitrary
and don't create a "level playing field" (as much as there can be
one). Entry classes should be based on ERP and number of operators, and
the ERP levels should approximate typical divisions of QRP, average home
stations, and big guns. I'm sorry, but 10 watts into a 4' dish at 10GHz is
not QRP, nor is 10 watts into W5UN's MBA! I made this point in the ARRL
survey also.
As many vhf'ers before me, I have scrounged/upgraded/reparied/built my
station over the last 10 years and this year will finally add 2.3 and
3.4GHz to finish off my last two missing bands between HF and 10GHz. With
patience and resourcefulness it is possible to build a good station on a
budget and still have time/money for family/house/vacations and other hobbies.
Participation really comes down to desire. I have been fairly inactive
(for my tastes) the last few years due to several moves and other
obligations. I have not participated in some contests as I didn't feel
like even showing up if I couldn't put in a decent effort. I have
participated in contests (HF and VHF) casually and not submitted logs post
Cabrillo as it wasn't worth the hassle to try and convert my log output to
Cabrillo. And finally, battled the Cabrillo robot to submit my Jan 03 log.
One contributing factor that I suspect has influenced the decline in VHF+
activity over the last 3 years in particular (no PC hat on here) is, the
advent of almost give away HF licenses. In the past those that could not
pass the code to upgrade from Tech were relegated to VHF+. Those that got
bored with the repeater scene either explored other options, satellite,
weak signal, etc, or dropped out. Since the mid-2000 easy HF licenses, I
suspect there has been a flood of people now exploring HF, as evidenced by
a lack of general VHF activity and some insane pileups I have heard for
less than even semi-rare HF DX stations. Whether these stations come back
to VHF as the sunspot cycle declines remains to be seen. Do not interpret
this last paragraph as a political statement on the code/no-code or any
other license related issue. It is just an observation that seems
pertinent to the discussion at hand.
At 01:06 PM 4/8/2003 -0400, Hoffman, Mark wrote:
>Perhaps I'm missing something. Could someone explain to me just HOW
>restricting a contest to 4 Bands could POSSIBLY help participation?
>
>I have to think, that by limiting June to ABCD, the following might occur:
>
>1) Those stations with multiple microwave bands won't participate, or at
>least throttle way back. I've got a darn good ABCD station, capable of lots
>of QSOs. But I like to work on extending my uWave records, too. Without
>stations to work on those uWave bands (which Contests tend to bring out) -
>why do I feel like playing? Where's MY incentive? Do you think that stations
>like W2SZ/1 would go to Graylock just to play ABCD?
>
>2) Those stations with only AB(C)D won't find as many people actively
>contesting, since they fell into category 1 (listed above). With fewer
>active many-band stations operating seriously, these operators might not
>work nearly as many QSOs as they'd expected.
>
>3) If propagation sucks, then there will be LOTS of people sitting around,
>feeling discouraged. Regardless of how many bands they have.
>
>If the nature of a contest is to build the best station possible to make as
>many points as possible - isn't it reasonable that SOMEONE will be
>discouraged no matter WHAT we do to make it better? So, it's my contention
>that restricting the June contest to 4 bands is the WORST POSSIBLE solution
>to an unclear issue.
>
>I'm not JUST a contester - I'm a VHFer at heart. I run a local SSB net on 2m
>every Monday. I am available for anyone to run skeds with. I'm available to
>help folks with construction projects,etc. I like the smell of solder, burnt
>phenolic, all that crap. THAT is the nature of VHF+ - contesting just adds
>an extra spark to help us push the limits. Without that spark, what's the
>point of it all?
>(and, at age 33, gonna be doing this a LOOOONG time to come..>)
>
>Mark, K2AXX
>ABCD9EFGHIJL
>FN12cs
>
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: Garcia, Michael [mailto:MJGarcia@fresno.ca.gov]
> > Sent: Tuesday, April 08, 2003 11:55 AM
> > To: vhfcontesting@contesting.com; vhf@w6yx.stanford.edu
> > Subject: RE: [VHFcontesting] RE: June Contest Proposal
> >
> >
> > Personally I like the ABCD idea...
> >
> > I have run a few Limited-Multi's w/ limited success and have
> > learned that
> > the higher bands are the way to go. BUT!! Most people around
> > here seem to
> > have ABCD as oppose to 902 and up.
> >
> > If this is all about log submitions, then this is the route
> > to go, if this
> > is about raising participation, that I'm not sure of.
> >
> > Michael
> > KF6KDA
> >
> > BTW, on a lighter note, nice to see some of you at the M2
> > doo-dad weekend
> > before last!
> >
> >
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > VHFcontesting mailing list
> > VHFcontesting@contesting.com
> > http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/vhfcontesting
> >
>_______________________________________________
>VHFcontesting mailing list
>VHFcontesting@contesting.com
>http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/vhfcontesting
73, Robert KR7O/YB2ARO, DM07ba/OI52ee (ex. N7STU)
kr7o@vhfdx.com
www.vhfdx.com (Norcal WSWSS activities & KR7O/YB2ARO homepages)
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