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Re: [VHFcontesting] An idea for the sprints.

To: Zack Widup <w9sz.zack@gmail.com>, VHF Contesting Reflector <vhfcontesting@contesting.com>
Subject: Re: [VHFcontesting] An idea for the sprints.
From: Ed Kucharski <k3dne@comcast.net>
Date: Fri, 2 Oct 2020 11:05:31 -0400 (EDT)
List-post: <mailto:vhfcontesting@contesting.com>
I was about to post the same thing Zack. You're right. In the 2m sprint, NU4E 
took the time and trouble to take his station to a spot on the Blue Ridge 
Parkway at 6000 ft. to operate the sprint (thanks Matt!). Anything shorter than 
4 hours would probably keep those type of portable operations and rovers from 
participating.
73,
Ed K3DNE
EM94

>     On 10/02/2020 10:58 AM Zack Widup < w9sz.zack@gmail.com 
> mailto:w9sz.zack@gmail.com > wrote:
> 
> 
>     If you're a Rover, 4 hours is barely enough time to get going. There's
>     transit time between stops and that eats up a lot of time.
> 
>     73, Zack W9SZ
> 
>     On Fri, Oct 2, 2020 at 9:06 AM Ed Kucharski < k3dne@comcast.net 
> mailto:k3dne@comcast.net > wrote:
> 
> 
>         > >         I'm gonna have to disagree with Chet. 4 hours seems like 
> the perfect time
> >         period for a sprint. In fact, I ran out of time in the 2m sprint 
> > trying to
> >         work stations at 22:59. I consider a marathon a 48 hour HF contest 
> > or the
> >         ARRL VHF contests - not a 4 hour sprint. Perhaps, if some think 4 
> > hours is
> >         too long, additional sprints can be devised (mini-sprints)? A 
> > separate 1 or
> >         2 hour event that would be in addition to the sprints that already 
> > exist at
> >         a different time of year - similar to the CW Ops Test (CWT) that 
> > are of a 1
> >         hour duration or Phone Fray a 30 minute contest on HF. IMHO FT8 is 
> > so slow
> >         I'm not sure 1 hour would be long enough on vhf+.
> >         73,
> >         Ed K3DNE
> >         EM94
> > 
> > 
> >             > > >             On 10/02/2020 9:24 AM Chet S < 
> > chetsubaccount@snet.net mailto:chetsubaccount@snet.net mailto:
> > > 
> > >         > >         chetsubaccount@snet.net 
> > > mailto:chetsubaccount@snet.net > wrote:
> >         >
> >         >
> > 
> >             > > >             Hi Dave,
> > > 
> > >             Many contests suffer the tapering off of activity after a 
> > > while.
> > > 
> > >         > >         Monday night football, super-bowls, debates, Sunday 
> > > afternoon sweepstakes
> >         doldrums, family time, etc.
> > 
> >             > > >             And nowadays we are constantly pressed to add 
> > something "new and
> > > 
> > >         > >         better" into our lives, and if we take more on, then 
> > > there is less relax
> >         time for our other stuff.
> >         >
> > 
> >             > > >             Maybe I'm old school but still highly enjoy 
> > hearing a weak signal,
> > > 
> > >         > >         turning the beam to peak it, and trying to work it. 
> > > Ahhh, that xyz station
> >         improvement I made this summer is working...or not...or pick a beam
> >         direction and go fishing to see what you can catch. Make your own 
> > decisions
> >         when and whether to call toward a population density direction or 
> > toward
> >         missing grids. SSB vs. FT8. To me that is the name of the game. I 
> > do not
> >         like the idea of pre-arranged contacts or arranging them in real 
> > time, that
> >         seems more like DXing than Contesting and not very satisfying.
> >         >
> > 
> >             > > >             The sprints are a good fun break from the 
> > workday, but are 4 hours a
> > > 
> > >         > >         bit much? It's supposed to be a sprint not a 
> > > marathon, so maybe with
> >         shorter hours the station activity would be more consistent 
> > throughout.
> >         >
> > 
> >             > > >             73,
> > >             Chet, N8RA
> > > 
> > > 
> > > 
> > >             -----Original Message-----
> > >             From: VHFcontesting < vhfcontesting-bounces+chetsubaccount=
> > > 
> > >         > >         snet.net@contesting.com 
> > > mailto:snet.net@contesting.com 
> > > mailto:vhfcontesting-bounces+chetsubaccount=
> >         snet.net@contesting.com mailto:snet.net@contesting.com > On Behalf 
> > Of David Olean
> > 
> >             > > >             Sent: Thursday, October 1, 2020 5:01 PM
> > >             To: (Radio) VHF Contesting < VHFcontesting@contesting.com 
> > > mailto:VHFcontesting@contesting.com mailto:
> > > 
> > >         > >         VHFcontesting@contesting.com 
> > > mailto:VHFcontesting@contesting.com >; 222 MHz ACTIVITY < 
> > > 222Activity@Groups.io mailto:222Activity@Groups.io
> >         mailto: 222Activity@Groups.io mailto:222Activity@Groups.io >
> > 
> >             > > >             Subject: [VHFcontesting] An idea for the 
> > sprints.
> > > 
> > >             It isn't much of an idea, more a suggestion, to not abandon 
> > > the VHF
> > > 
> > >         > >         sprints when activity dies down after the initial 
> > > spurt of activity. I was
> >         not a big fan of opening up chat pages for coordination of contacts 
> > in VHF
> >         contests. My reasoning was that it favored stations that had good 
> > internet
> >         connectivity and penalized those that did not.
> >         >
> > 
> >             > > >             That being said, we now have the ability to 
> > set up schedules for
> > > 
> > >         > >         almost impossible contacts simply by coordinating on 
> > > internet sites
> >         dedicated to such things. So why did everyone bail out after an 
> > hour or so
> >         on the
> > 
> >             > > >             222 Sprint? The few diehards left were ones 
> > that I had already
> > > 
> > >         > >         contacted. It would have been great to try some long 
> > > haul tropo contacts on
> >         CW or even FT4/FT8 with stations that are normally not in range. 
> > Trying and
> >         failing at a 400+ mile QSO with a 25 watt station or trying a meteor
> >         scatter contact is much more agreeable than spending an hour 
> > calling CQ and
> >         tuning around on a almost empty band with no takers and no results. 
> > A few
> >         posts for skeds by several of the diehards also went unheeded 
> > towards the
> >         latter half of the sprint. The last hour, when things die down is 
> > the time
> >         to experiment and see what your station can do even if it is 
> > outside of
> >         your comfort zone. The worst that can happen is that the path does 
> > not
> >         work! Then, there is the problem of which chat page to monitor. 
> > Having poor
> >         connectivity makes monitoring a number of them impossible for many
> >         operators. On a good day, I might be able to cover two chat pages. 
> > We
> >         should set up a standardization for the sprints so
> > 
> >             > > >             people are all looking at the same place.
> > > 
> > >             So next time, think twice about quitting early! Do something
> > > 
> > >         > >         exciting instead.
> >         >
> > 
> >             > > >             73
> > > 
> > >             Dave K1WHS
> > > 
> > >             _______________________________________________
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> > > mailto:VHFcontesting@contesting.com mailto: VHFcontesting@contesting.com 
> > > mailto:VHFcontesting@contesting.com
> > >             http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/vhfcontesting
> > > 
> > >             _______________________________________________
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> > > mailto:VHFcontesting@contesting.com
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> > > 
> > > 
> > >         > >         _______________________________________________
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> > 
> >     > 
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