Most of the discussion about awards in VHF contests has been focused on the
awards for winning some particular category/region in the VHF contest.
Another motivation for working contests (VHF+ or HF) is to accumulate
contacts for other awards. For example, if I am working on DXCC, I might
make it a point to work the ARRL DX contest to pick up a few more countries.
Similarly, I might work VHF contests to pick up new grids for VUCC. Note that
for this to work well, it helps to have consistency between the contest
exchange, contest scoring and the award criteria (e.g., the grid square is the
exchange, the scoring multiplier and the basis for the VUCC award).
The subcommittee report addresses this:
**** Start of excerpt from report ******
Awards
-----------
** Change the entry-level steps for VHF+ awards so more people will be able to
get started in the VUCC, WAS and DXCC using VHF+ frequencies. Consider changing
the steps for different level awards to a smaller increment.
The actual number of VUCC awards issued is relatively small. We think that
offering an entry point requiring fewer grid squares, or offering a "pre-VUCC"
award would be a good way to get more people interested in trying to work
longer distances on VHF+ frequencies (i.e. try something besides repeaters and
simplex FM operating). [This will likely generate a new award, not a revised
VUCC]
** Create a new award or awards to appeal to entry-level or rover/portable
operation, such as a grids activated or miles per watt award. Consider GCR
certification rather than card checking.
A lot of VHF+ activity is made possible by those who operate while mobile
(rovers) or go to hilltops. An award that rewarded their activity in putting
remote grid squares on the air would encourage even more activity during
contest and non-contest times.
**** end of report (some parts edited out)**********
I see merit in both of these approaches. The first one is to offer an entry
level award that is "pre-VUCC". Don't dillute the existing VUCC. One idea is to
have a "VHF Plus" grid award, that is awarded based on total number of grids
worked, counting all bands above 50 MHz. So an operator could combine grids
from 6M, 2M, 70 cm to meet the minimum grid count required. Perhaps the entry
level award could be something like 50 grids, with 5 grid increments after
that. Having a minimum grid count considerably less than 100 and the use of
multiple bands should make this award very reachable with modest (but non-zero)
effort.
The second idea is to offer an award for the rovers and portable operators.
I've activated lots of rare grids and have been pleased to give out the contact
and confirm the QSO. But this effort doesn't help much with pursuing VUCC since
the effort is inherently distributed across different grids. An idea here is
allow accumulation of grids worked when operating from different grids. (uh,
oh, another heated rover scoring debate?). This "Rover VUCC" could have some
exclusions such as "working the grid you are in doesn't count" and "a minimum
contact distance requirement" to keep the award from just being a long distance
driving test. This requires some careful design. The County Hunter community
does a good job of making sure there are awards out there to recognize the
brave, committed (and maybe a little wacko) folks that get out and activate
rare counties (grids).
And, no, new awards will not solve all the problems, but they are a tool that
can be part of the solution.
73,
Bob K0NR
=====
Bob Witte K0NR
Email: bob@rwitte.com or k0nr@arrl.net
ARRL Technical Coordinator, Colorado Section http://www.k0nr.com/ts.html
Personal Web Page http://www.rwitte.com
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