[RTTY] Not to beat the ANTENNA OVERKILL horse...

[Jim McDonald]

"One transmitter" seems easy to measure, but a "moderate" antenna systems
doesn't.

ARRL doesn't allow antenna gain measurements in ads, so I don't know how
contesters are supposed to determine whether they comply with the rule or
not.  I understand the intent is to distinguish those with "typical"
antennas from those with multi-tower installations with more than one
antenna per band, but the proposal requires a subjective determination of
compliance.  Is having a SteppIR that can be reversed 180 degrees with a
flip of a switch OK but a tribander with more than three elements on 10 or
15 is not?

I'm an occasional contester and rarely send in logs.  I don't see the point
in my sitting in the chair the whole time to be at a 40% disadvantage.  I do
enjoying running stations for a few hours but to compete with those who have
"invested" in additional aluminum, steel, radios, maybe real estate, and,
yes, SO2R skill doesn't seem worth it.  I like simple, which for now will
remain one radio.

Jim N7US 


-----Original Message-----
From: rtty-bounces at contesting.com [mailto:rtty-bounces at contesting.com] On
Behalf Of Bill Turner
Sent: Friday, July 21, 2006 1:56 PM
To: Ron Stailey
Cc: RTTY at contesting.com
Subject: Re: [RTTY] Not to beat the ANTENNA OVERKILL horse...

ORIGINAL MESSAGE:

On Fri, 21 Jul 2006 11:53:16 -0500, you wrote:


>I hope you see what I'm getting at. I'm not making any future plans for a
>new wire antenna
>
>category. But someone will, and most likely with better plan then what I
>have written above..

------------ REPLY SEPARATOR ------------

Hi Ron, nice to hear from you again. For those new to RTTY contesting,
Ron was the AA5AU of his day, and I mean that as a compliment to both.

Ron used to wipe the floor with all of us and he knows whereof he
speaks.

But...  My proposal goes beyond just one radio vs two, or what kind of
wires one puts up. I'm suggesting two classes: Limited and Unlimited. 

LIMITED CLASS: 

1. One TX, one RX. When the TX is on, the RX must be off and vice
versa. In other words, conventional transceiver operation.

2. No spotting of any kind, either help in the shack or internet,
packet, etc, etc. Find 'em and work 'em the old fashioned way.

3. A "modest" antenna system. One antenna per band. 20/15/10 may have
the gain-equivalent of a three element yagi and 160/80/40 the gain
equivalent of a half wave dipole. All antennas may be rotatable.

UNLIMITED CLASS:

1. Anything legal in your country is allowed.


Within those two classes you could have single op and multi op, and
HP/LP/QRP if desired, but the hardware would stay the same. I think
this would encourage the average amateur with a "modest" station to
give contesting a try. 

Sounds pretty doable to me. What do you think?

Bill, W6WRT