[CQ-Contest] "500-meter circle" rule question

[jimk8mr at aol.com]

I'll leave it to contest sponsors for the final word, but I'd think you are over-interpreting. If you're doing a rover/mobile operation, you're unlikely to have the big antennas and perhaps the big amplifiers that a big fixed station would have, so your small score won't be noticed by the serious competitors. Nobody will care much if your 500 meter circle moves. Just don't try catching a red eye (or getting a remote rent-a-station) to the other coast to get on from a different big station to pick up those tough multipliers. 

For normal contests you might also run into issues if you're crossing state or CQ/ITU zone lines during the contest. Most contests haven't addressed that issue as it has seldom or never arisen, at least among competitive entries.

But from much experience, mobile or rover operation in a state QSO party is great fun! I hope you have the chance to try it some day.



73  -  Jim   K8MR



-----Original Message-----
From: John Owens <john at lorien.org>
To: cq-contest at contesting.com <cq-contest at contesting.com>
Sent: Mon, Feb 21, 2022 1:50 pm
Subject: [CQ-Contest] "500-meter circle" rule question

I'm hoping the collective wisdom of this list can help me with a rule interpretation.

Many contests have a rule like "All transmitters and receivers must be located within a 500-meter circle." For contests that don't include a specific mobile rule or category, I've taken the 500-meter circle rule to mean that a station must be, well, stationary for the duration of the contest. So if I'm operating from my vehicle, once I make the first contact of the contest, I need to stay within 500 meters of that point (or whatever depending on if it specifies a radius or a diameter) for any subsequent contest contacts.

Am I over-interpreting the rule? Is it just meant to require that a station must fit within such a circle at any given time, but it's ok for that circle to move during the course of the contest like a rover or mobile operation? I was interpreting it as requiring the station be fixed, but maybe it just means that the station must be compact and not distributed across multiple locations?

    Cheers,
    -John N6JSO