Sorry, but I don't see the grid circlers as being bad
guys. To keep them and "regular" rovers happy, you
create a set of rules that allows and recognizes both.
Paul, K7CW
--- Tree <tree@kkn.net> wrote:
> > Well, if enough refuse to submit logs or even
> participate in contests
> > that accept such "grid circling" behaviour, the
> rules will change. I'd
> > hate to see it come to that, but it's always an
> option. Sometimes to
> > have to vote with your feet. People tend to
> listen when the silence
> > becomes deafening.
>
> Hopefully, it won't come to that.
>
> After doing more thinking about this - I think I can
> articulate what it is
> about grid circling that really makes it
> incompatible with the rest of the
> contest.
>
> For the rest of us, we turn on our radios and work
> the stations that we
> hear on the band. If you get up on a mountain top,
> you probably hear
> more stations than you did at home. If you get a
> good e-skip opening,
> then you get to put more guys in the log.
>
> The opportunities are basically the same for anyone
> else in your area.
> If they turn on their radio, they would essentially
> hear the same things
> you do.
>
> I admit there are geographical differences - you
> will work more guys on
> two meters from FN32 than you will from DN32... but
> you are operating
> the same contest.
>
> In each case, as each of us get on - we help add to
> the activity of the
> contest. If I choose to be active, maybe 80 guys
> will have one more
> QSO in their log in my local area as a result. My
> activity does help
> everyone else out - and I have a small impact to the
> general activity
> level.
>
> A true rover can give perhaps 5 or 10 QSOs to the
> locals - which is
> a pretty nice impact. Having two or three rovers
> around in your area
> can have a nice impact to your score - especially on
> the more difficult
> bands where you wouldn't have a chance to working
> anyone.
>
> In the case of a pack of circling rovers, they are
> creating a totally
> artifical situation where most, if not all, of the
> activity is generated
> by their partners. Take away the QSOs made by their
> partners and you
> have a totally insignificant rover score. They are
> not significantly
> increasing the overall activity level of the contest
> (since they tend
> to pick fairly unpopulated places to do their
> roving).
>
> Their score isn't limited by the same issues a
> "normal" rover would
> have to deal with - like being able to get a signal
> into a population
> area - or making sure you are awake when that e-skip
> opening occurs.
>
> They have worked out a schedule and "dance" to
> maximize the number of
> grid circles they can work - and to optimize the
> QSOs with their
> partners. It is like having schedules all setup for
> you before the
> contest - and being 100 percent assured that
> conditions will support
> the QSO.
>
> Sure - it requires a lot of equipment to do this -
> not an easy thing
> to do. A good operator will also help - as you can
> make the QSOs
> quicker. However, I don't think this is a healthy
> use of the capability.
>
> VHF contesting - outside the big cities - is a very
> boring thing. We
> need more rovers to make the contest more exciting
> for the masses. We
> should not be enouraging world class rover stations
> to end up working
> only themselves over the duration of the contest.
> Allowing them to
> compete against our "true" rovers - ends up creating
> discouragement.
>
> I still believe that a simple rule will discourage
> anyone from ever putting
> together a big operation like this again. We don't
> need to worry about what
> percentage constitutes grid circling as nobody will
> bother doing it. We
> aren't out to punish the little guy - or guys who
> end up at the same grid
> junction and end up creating a dozen or so QSOs...
> we are just making it
> clear we don't want to continue seeing logs with 99
> percent of their
> 1700 QSOs with the same two stations.
>
> Tree N6TR
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