[CQ-Contest] What if [was: A proposal]

[John Laney]

I doubt it would be observed.  Note that 10-10 contests on 10 meters 
require that no contest activity be between 28490 and 28510, but there 
are nearly always stations CQing for the contest in that range.  ARRL 
10M contests used to have a contest free zone of 28300 to 28350.  It was 
often violated and it turned out that LU Novices were confined to those 
50 khz, so it prohibited them from participating.  The no contest 
subband was dropped.

Many contests in Europe require participation only in contest bands as 
defined by IARU region one.  That means no contest activity above 14060 
on CW and none above 14300 on phone.  There are restrictions on some 
other bands as well, notably no SSB activity below 7040 on 40 meters.
Last weekend, in the RSGB IOTA contest, the rules for which do restrict 
activity to certain frequencies, there were CQ Contests well above 14060 
and 14300.  It is doubtful that everyone doing that knew they were 
violating a contest rule.  People can get on the air, hear the contest, 
and operate the contest as they understand it without actually reading 
and understanding the rules.  I doubt that there is any organized 
monitoring done to identify and disqualify violators.  I have 
OCCASIONALLY suggested to a 10-10 member that he or she should not be 
calling for contest QSOs between 28490 and 28510.  Any organized 
monitoring of the frequencies during the contest would mean that the 
monitors would not themselves be able to enjoy the contest.

We know that it is technologically possible to record a section of a 
band during the contest and listen to it afterward, but I have never 
heard of it being done for this purpose.

It is likely that strict compliance with a small segment requirement in 
a contest when the licensing authority allows wider use of the band 
would not be widely observed.

73,


John, K4BAI.