[CQ-Contest] Why the 10 min rule anyway?

[Ward Silver]

> After being brought up to speed on time slicing, I would have to say
> the duck principle is in effect. To any one who is listening to the
> multi-single station that is using time slicing, there would be no
> difference between their application and a multi-multi station.
> Obviously there would be electronic ways to determine that only "one"
> signal was being transmitted at any one time, but there is also no
> doubt that multiple operators were operating multiple transmitters at
> the same time. Time slicing does not change that. That isn't just the
> spirit of the rule, that is the absolute function of the station.
>
> My judgement would be that it was looking like, acting like, and
> quacking like a duck. It would be a multi-transmitter, multi Op
> station. If someone wanted to argue that further, they could start
> their own contest.
>
> -73 de Mike N3LI -

Time-slicing - the rapid, synchronized gating of more than one transmitted 
signal with different carrier frequencies - is not legal under the FCC's 
spurious signal limits.  Gating modulates the CW signal with a pulse train 
of the gating rate and duty cycle.  For the transmitted signals to actually 
not overlap in time (using the FCC's amplitude definitions for bandwidth) 
the rise and fall time would have to be so sharp that the resulting 
modulation sidebands would broaden the signal well beyond what is considered 
acceptable for CW.  Think of key-clicks on mega-steroids.  And furthermore, 
even if it was legal, your amateur transmitter couldn't reproduce the 
waveform without smearing the signal so that it did overlap in time after 
all.

Here's another good idea - rotate a high-gain antenna so rapidly that your 
signal's main lobe is loud in all directions at once!  Now THAT would be a 
ring rotator!

73, Ward N0AX