June VHF Prelim Results

[carlson at tellabs.com]

Preliminary Results for the June VHF QSO Party 1995 AA9D EN52
Multiop (unlimited)

BAND     Q   GRID
______________________
50     341   130
144    372    58
222     96    41
432    177    45
903     22    14
1.3     35    14
2.3      8     8
3.4     10     8
5,7     12     8
10G      9     7
24G      2     2
LHT      3     2
_____________________
TOTAL 1087   337 = 541,222

This score is preliminary and will change. Typically the amount of
change from preliminary to final is less than 5%.

We had rain and fairly constant wind on Saturday. The forecast
kept calling for thunderstorms but none happened. Temps were
quite cool (50's and 60's) for the most part. Sunday was much better.
No real Es openings on 6m. 2m and above was flat on Saturday but
improved on Sunday. Big technical problems on 1296 and to some
degree on 2m. Lotsa line noise to contend with on 2, and even more
on 222.

Dave Carlson AA9D
carlson at tellabs.com

>From Trey Garlough <GARLOUGH at TGV.COM>  Fri Jun 16 22:19:21 1995
From: Trey Garlough <GARLOUGH at TGV.COM> (Trey Garlough)
Date: Fri, 16 Jun 1995 14:19:21 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: CT BBS
Message-ID: <803337561.420001.GARLOUGH at TGV.COM>

> Can anyone e-mail me the CT BBS Number....

A better mailing list for this question would be the CT users mailing list.
You can subscribe to that list be sending a message to 

	ct-user-request at eng.pko.dec.com

that says SUBSCRIBE.

--Trey, WN4KKN/6

>From k2mm at MasPar.COM (John Zapisek K2MM)  Fri Jun 16 22:53:28 1995
From: k2mm at MasPar.COM (John Zapisek K2MM) (John Zapisek K2MM)
Date: Fri, 16 Jun 95 14:53:28 PDT
Subject: Speeding Rovers
Message-ID: <9506162153.AA04242 at greylock.local>

> [Rich/KE3Q]  Is the controversy something like this:  Rover scores have
> been devalued, meaning their scores are not as competitive with fixed
> stations as before?  Is that the issue?

Nope.

In the January VHF SS, rover and fixed-station scores are added together for
club totals.  This is the only time when the relative magnitude of these two
categories' scores makes any difference.  Since there's no club competition
in the June and September VHF tests, it's not an issue here.

The issue is that the new rules do not encourage rovers to visit as many new
grids.  (Many would say this is bad, though I'm not so sure myself.)

Here is the grid breakdown of the NG0X/R operation I helped with:

    Grid    Qs   Mults  Points
    DM04    57      25    1700
    DM05    12       8     120
    CM95    44      31    1767
    CM96   111      60    8340
    CM97     1       1       1
    CM87    53      25    1525
    TOTAL                13453

Previously, you'd total the Qs and mults from all the grids you visited,
then multiply them for a final score.  NOW you multiply Qs and mults in each
grid, then add the points.  This strongly affects your strategy for when to
rove vs. when to stay put.

For example, we drove past the four-grid corner CM95-96/DM05-06 without
stopping to put DM06 on the air.  It just doesn't pay to stop in a grid for
only a short while.  The one Q we made from CM97 increased our score by
only 0.01%.  Under the old rules, one new Q and one new mult would have
been worth about 1.0%.

If there's an opening -- and the stations and grids you're hearing are new
-- then it pays to be in a grid where you have plenty of other Qs and mults
to leverage against the new ones.  I.e., once you've got a pile of Qs from
one grid, it pays to stay there until there is *really* no one left to work.

I suspect our score would have been higher if we had spent the whole contest
in CM96, except for one token Q from some other grid just to put us in the
rover category.  35 more Qs and 15 more mults from CM96 would have done it!

> [Tree/N6TR]  I believe that roving should be a non competitive event.

Rovers are always gonna look for ways to measure themselves against one
another.  They're no different from the rest of us.

> I do not want to be part of a contest that makes it a cut throat
> competition where driving fast to the next grid pays off.

I've known hams that sometimes drive 100+ mph just to make it to a hamfest
on time.  So, outlaw hamfests?  Naw, fast drivers are gonna drive fast, VHF
contest or no.  BTW, for a real hazard, check out those hidden-transmitter
hunters barreling down the road!

> After one of our contesting brothers loses his life trying to maximize
> his score we might get our perspective back.  

Or falls off a tower or gets electrocuted.  Or gets shot to death by a
foreign government trying to defend Spratly Is. from dangerous DXpeditions.

Sorry, being too close to that kind of a loss-of-life tragedy tends to
impair your perspective, not broaden it.  There will always be plenty of fun
things to do that involve an element of danger.  If enough people do enough
of these things, sooner or later someone will buy the farm.

> [Brian/ND3F]  I never exceed the speed limit.

Cool.  Just don't hog the fast lane, OK?

> We can still hit 10-15 pre-planned sites in a weekend.

If/when the old rover rules come back, that might once again be an effective
strategy.  With the new rules, I suspect it currently is not.

73.  --John/K2MM

>From Robert Penneys <penneys at brahms.udel.edu>  Sat Jun 17 00:19:23 1995
From: Robert Penneys <penneys at brahms.udel.edu> (Robert Penneys)
Date: Fri, 16 Jun 1995 19:19:23 -0400
Subject: Need to borrow 12V PC, 6, 440 ant for FD
Message-ID: <199506162319.TAA15123 at brahms.udel.edu>



We need to borrow a 12v PC or two, and beams for 6 and 440 for Field Day.
Can have stuff picked up by UPS. Tnx, Bob


Bob Penneys, WN3K                    Internet:  penneys at brahms.udel.edu
     Frankford Radio Club    N.E.R.D.S. (club call KB3BIJ for now)
                     Work: Ham Radio Outlet, Delaware


>From Rich L. Boyd" <rlboyd at CapAccess.org  Sat Jun 17 01:43:17 1995
From: Rich L. Boyd" <rlboyd at CapAccess.org (Rich L. Boyd)
Date: Fri, 16 Jun 1995 20:43:17 -0400 (EDT)
Subject: Speeding Rovers
Message-ID: <Pine.3.07.9506162016.N15188-8100000 at cap1.capaccess.org>


OK, I'm sufficiently enlightened now on the rover controversy,
understanding it much more than I did before.

One person advised me I was poking a stick at a hornet's nest, and I don't
wanna do that!  73

Rich Boyd KE3Q



>From David C. Patton" <mudcp3 at uxa.ecn.bgu.edu  Sat Jun 17 01:54:17 1995
From: David C. Patton" <mudcp3 at uxa.ecn.bgu.edu (David C. Patton)
Date: Fri, 16 Jun 1995 19:54:17 -0500 (CDT)
Subject: VHF Contest score and comments
Message-ID: <199506170054.TAA01498 at ecom1.ecn.bgu.edu>

Hello

the VHF trip to the Great White North was a blast.  I received my
JST245 a day b4 leaving for the 2300 mile drive.  I ordered feedline
and a 2M brick and PS over a month b4 the test, but never received
those, so was stuck with 6 only.  But I was far enough north that 2
probably wouldn't have brought much return.

I traveled all over EO60 looking for a campsite that was semi-free of
bears, with a picnic table, and a shower for the YL.  Not to be, I
stayed at a nice provincial park in EN69.  Got the 5 el 6M yagi up 30
feet, hooked up the new rig, opened the instruction manual at 1800Z
and went at it.

At the end of the contest I had 25 Qs!!  But it was fun.  Heard about
100 different stations on meteor scatter whom I could not work.  It
was a cinch to work guys who aimed their antennas north, otherwise it
was tough.  Had several SHORT Es openings (less than 15 Minutes) to
W4, W5, and W7.  W2YV/4 was 20/9 for 10 minutes.  The NV and ID Qs
were ok.

Best meteor signals by far were from K3MQH--good job Dick!

Easy QSO with K3ZO, who was by far the most adept meteor op along
with WB9TIY at AA9D.  I called N8FMD all weekend, but their ops
seemed unable to work a meteor and continually picked out a piece of
my call and told me to come back later.

Only saw one bear, one moose, 467 spiders, and 2,455,677,832
skeeters.

The JST245 is pretty cool.

Oh yeah, my YL helped me lift the mast.  She was scared but I think
she secretly enjoyed it.  she did say that she could not stand all
that static.

Remembering how she helped me with the mast, and happily went to
skeeterville on her first camping trip (ever) and cooked mac and
cheese for me etc, on Wednesday last week while hanging our legs off
a cliff high above Northern lake Superior I asked her to be my
wife--and she accepted.

I think I am lucky.

73, Dave Patton, WX3N/VE3 etc.

mudcp3 at uxa.ecn.bgu.edu

>From Brian Short <ke7gh at PrimeNet.Com>  Sat Jun 17 01:56:37 1995
From: Brian Short <ke7gh at PrimeNet.Com> (Brian Short)
Date: Fri, 16 Jun 1995 17:56:37 -0700 (MST)
Subject: Reply
Message-ID: <199506170056.RAA09366 at usr4.primenet.com>