[3830] CQWW VHF KR1ST SOAB HP

[webform at b4h.net]

                    CQ Worldwide VHF Contest - 2020

Call: KR1ST
Operator(s): KR1ST
Station: KR1ST

Class: SOAB HP
QTH: FN21
Operating Time (hrs): 

Summary:
 Band  QSOs  Mults
-------------------
    6:  120    57
    2:   49    21
-------------------
Total:  169    78  Total Score = 17,004

Club: Mt Airy VHF Radio Club

Comments:

Rig:  IC-7300, IC-9700
Pwr:  1000W (6m), 800W (2m)
Ants: M2 6M3, M2 2M9SSB

Due to a family emergency I was only able to work the contest for a few hours
here and there. I missed the most productive hours, and no doubt the best
openings. 

So this is what a digital mode VHF contest looks like, and probably what all VHF
contests will turn into. Don't get me wrong, I like digital mode contests, but
unless contest sponsors wake up and smell the coffee, the traditional modes will
disappear from these contests. Perhaps that is OK with them, as I don't see any
movement by the CQ WW, the ARRL, or any other US based organisation doing
anything to stop this from happening. The ARRL moves at a snail's pace and
probably won't see this coming until a few years after it happened, we know
that, but perhaps CQ WW could take the lead and improve things for VHF
contesting. We really need separate contests for Machine Generated Modes, as the
RSGB likes to call them. It seems other national Amateur Radio organizations
have understood this quite some time ago, but on this side of the Atlantic and
Pacific we seem to be apprehensive of trying something new. Maybe the ARRL and
the CQWW are just fine with this transformation of VHF contests into MGM
contests, and proudly point at participation rates while in fact they have done
absolutely nothing to contribute to these higher participation rates. Going by
number of logs entered alone is really like putting blinders on yourself. 

One thing I wish VHF operators would learn from the HF crowd is that in order to
be productive in digital modes, you need to abandon FT8 in favor of FT4. I for
one think that FT8 is way too slow, and I don't know about you, it is really
testing my patience. Only use FT8 for what it is meant for. It is just too silly
though, almost comical, that everyone is cramming themselves into a 2800Hz
channel running large arrays and kW's. Well, two things we can learn from the HF
crowd (and probably a lot more), spread out! 50.313 is hopefully not the only
frequency your radio will tune to. Move below or above .313 when it gets too
crowded. The HF digital mode contesters learned this lesson many decades ago and
it works just fine.

More than in previous contests, I found myself deleting QSO's after they were
logged because QSO's were not completed. I also noticed a number of stations
that were transmitting on both 6 and 2 meters at the same time. Perhaps another
thing we should make folks aware of is that it is perfectly fine to work dupes.
There are no penalties.

Off my soap box now. Nobody reads this anyway. :)

Thanks everyone for the Q's. I really did have fun. I'm looking forward to
working everyone in the 222MHz and up contest.

73,
--Alex KR1ST


 Band   Mode  QSOs     Pts  Grd  Pt/Q
    50  FT4     30      30   20   1.0
    50  FT8     78      78   30   1.0
    50  USB     12      12    7   1.0
   144  FT8     44      88   17   2.0
   144  USB      5      10    4   2.0
 Total  Both   169     218   78   1.3
Score: 17,004
1 Mult = 2.2 Q's


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