>
> Hi Ken,
> this "Captive Rover" discussion is getting awfully interesting. It is
> not so simple once you get into it. It is interesting to see the
> perspectives of various VHFers. From my perspective, I live in an area
with
> zilch for microwave activity in many directions. Heck even 222 and 432
> activity is nonexistent for 180 degrees of antenna direction, and almost
nil
> over about 250 degrees total from my QTH. I cannot get anywhere near the
> numbers of grids that other stations in the more active areas just a few
> hundred miles to the Southwest (and in the same ARRL division) can get
with
> much less antenna and much less power. I perceive this as a huge
> disadvantage for me on the microwave bands, and it does not give a true
> picture of what the station here can do when the log results are
published.
> Having a rover station hit those empty grids tips the scales back toward
the
> middle in my opinion. Without activating empty grids in the Great North
> Woods, 7 grids on 2304 and above is a good effort, while stations in the
populated
> areas of the same ARRL division get 15-20 grids with no sweat. KM0T does
> the same thing from Iowa where microwave stations in many grids are as
rare
> as ski resorts there. He has done a tremendous amount of work to build
up
> a good rover station, and then race along the prairie working all those
rare
> grids. Why should he be penalized for it? He is penalized already for
> living in NW Iowa. I marvel at his score and his spunk to overcome a
> geographical disadvantage. My opinion is that rovers are a good thing
under
> such circumstances. They are a result of competition to get a higher
score.
> Our rover station works stations who call them, but they do not sit at the
> same location to work out the band. Trying to get 6 or 7 unutilized grids
in
> Maine activated entails a tremendous amount of driving on dirt roads or no
> roads in some circumstances. At one site, the road was so bumpy, the whole
> front windshield actually popped out of the car! It takes from early
> Saturday morning until 11 pm Sunday night to make the round. There is no
> time for more than a 1/2 hour at each stop. It is impossible to take any
> extra time hoping to work more stations and still finish the trip to get
all
> the grids activated. This seems to be a common situation for rover
stations
> in general. Many of the rover stations I hear during contests never even
> stop in a grid, but race thru as a mobile station at 75 mph. They could be
> in a grid for only a few minutes! Some people work em and some don't.
Maybe
> this will foster others to go to these grids as well, once they see it is
> possible.
>
> Ken Harker wrote:
>
> "Real captive rovers are often encouraged to make a certain number of QSOs
> with stations other than the mother-ship multi-unlimited station, so as
> to avoid overt appearance of captiveness. Mostly, these "other" QSOs are
> on the lower bands, where they are less likely to help the multi-unlimited
> station's competition."
>
> As for big multis limiting who their rovers can work, that sounds like
a
> crock to me from my own experience. I know I can get a QSO with some of
the
> rovers from W2SZ, and they can do likewise. I know I am not going to beat
> out W2SZ by next year, but I am trying hard regardless, and I have never
> felt like I was being prevented from working their rover stations when I
> heard them. Heck, if they have some free time, they would call us and let
us
> know what their schedule was and we run the bands including 3456, 5760 and
> 10 GHz. These contacts all make for a bigger score for us. We also have
> more fun.
> I have seen where the same rover stations who started out for W2SZ are
> now real dedicated microwavers who relish the task of driving around on
> sprints, etc even without W2SZ on the air. In short, it has fostered much
> activity on the microwaves. I see this as a good thing. These guys are
> adding bands on their own and trying to work more stations and have more
fun
> in the process.
> You make it all sound like a big conspiracy with the big multi
> stations. I do not see it that way from my vantage point. In the past it
may
> have been different. I see rover stations for big contest efforts as
> another useful project like adding a few sections to the tower, or getting
> an eme station together on 1296 to work new stations in droves. I used to
> have a big eme array running here on 144 MHz. If I had that running now in
a
> VHF contest, that would be unfair and unethical because it would give me
an
> unfair advantage by allowing me to work stations that were literally
> impossible for almost anyone else to work no matter how hard they tried.
It
> sure is an easy way to get 20 or more grids. All I had to do was build a
> huge antenna and sink 12 yards of concrete in my field for a self
supporting
> tower, then hook up some monster feedline. I remember one contest just
> before grid squares where I had 27 sections (not grids) on 144 MHz before
I
> had even worked my first terrestrial QSO. And that was with a smaller eme
> array!
> We should be very careful to not remove the competition from the
> contests. I view the competition as the source of fun in the contest. If I
> had to stop working rovers in the North woods of Maine, my microwave score
> for the whole weekend would not be anywhere near what someone could get
from
> the southern part of my own ARRL division in the first two hours of the
> contest. That does not float my boat, and I would most likely go back to
> watching Mork & Mindy re runs on cable TV. I mean how much time does it
take
> to work 10 stations on 2304?
> Just my observations. Building a rover station is not hard, and it is
> fun to do. I see these forays into rare grids as building activity.
Instead
> of trying to kill it, we should keep it up and maybe get some more hams
> interested in the microwaves in the process. How about a rover boat to
> activate FN40, FN50, and FN52. Lets see, I will need some sort of
stabilized
> gyro controlled platform for the 5 and 10 GHz dish. Hhhhmmmm? I'll need a
> new alternator in the bilge too. Seasick pills? No problem!
>
> 73
>
> Dave K1WHS
>
>
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Kenneth E. Harker" <kharker@cs.utexas.edu>
> To: "Bill Olson" <callbill@hotmail.com>
> Cc: <kkaufhold@yahoo.com>; <vhfcontesting@contesting.com>
> Sent: Wednesday, April 30, 2003 8:34 PM
> Subject: Re: [VHFcontesting] VHF Contest Rules Revisions - Part III
>
>
> > On Wed, Apr 30, 2003 at 06:48:00PM +0000, Bill Olson wrote:
> > > Kevin, You make MANY well thought out points. Thanks for that. I will
> > > comment on only one, the "Rover" section and only as it applies to
> > > unlimited-multiop stations, since I have been following the "Captive
> Rover"
> > > dialog for quite a while. First of all, at K1WHS, unlimited multiop in
> > > Maine, we rely on rover stations for a good number of our microwave
> qso's
> > > and especially grids. When the Limited Multiop entry class was
started,
> > > microwave activity took a BIG nose dive. i see the rover activity just
> as a
> > > way to get some of it back. I don't know if we "sponsor" rovers or
not.
> > > None of the operators at K1WHS own the rover gear, it is owned by the
> rover
> > > operators. They are, however, our friends and we do coordinate with
> them.
> >
> >
>
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