[SECC] GQP Rules Changes

[John T. Laney III]

About GQP rules changes:

1.  I don't feel strongly about self-spotting, one way or the other.

2.  I am very much opposed to multipliers per band.  The all time record 
scores would be meaningless.  There would be an almost unlimited number 
of mults, so a "clean sweep" or even close to one would be impossible.  
159 counties times two modes times six or eight bands = 1908 or 2544 
possible mults for each out-of-state station.  Might as well make each 
different station or QSO a "multiplier. "

3.  I don't feel strongly about the times of the QSO party except I'd 
like to see it stay at ten hours per day for a total of twenty hours on 
the weekend.  The hours were selected in 1999 to be the same as the FL 
QP had established the preceding year.  They then changed their hours 
and we might consider changing ours too.  Their change was to give more 
time in the mornings when conditions were supposed to be better to 
Europe for DX contacts. Turns out not to have been the case since 10 and 
15 meters are almost never used in the FQP and if they were used, there 
is almost never propagation to Europe at the end of April.  In fact, for 
the past few years, Europe has been better later in the day than earlier 
on 15M.  Also, while we didn't experience it this year. the 1400Z start 
time on Sunday has been too early for 20M conditions to be good to 
anywhere in the past few years.  40M is still usable for a few hundred 
miles at 1400Z, but it is usually the case all day long.  Starting 
earlier on Saturday would mean practically no time for working 80 meters 
and certainly there would be no chance for the west coast on 80.  
Remember that FQP doesn't use 80M at all.  On balance, I think the hours 
we have now are fine.  I'd not way to stop using 80M.  At the bottom of 
the next cycle, we will be glad we have those hours on 80M.

4.  I don't know why we added six meters.  I assume somebody asked for 
it, but then whoever asked for it never shows up and makes QSOs on 6M.  
It is relatively easy to put 6M in a car, but there usually is no 6M Es 
propagation in mid April.  And, although I work a lot of 6 meters, I 
have NEVER heard anybody on 6M working a contest that wasn't a VHF 
contest.  No QSO parties.  No activity in RAC (Canada) contests that 
include 6M.  160M has seen some activity the past two years.  There are 
a few guys who work only 160M.  Last year, one of our 50 year 
anniversary ops from the 1962 contest was K3JJG who works only 160M 
these days and made eight QSOs last year, as I recall.  N4GG made a lot 
of QSOs there.  Jeff, KU8E, made QSOs on 160M low power this year.  I 
vote to drop six M and keep 160M.  Incidentally, the old GQPs, 1960s 
1970s include 160M and I made a few QSOs on 160M with a Viking 
Adventurer in two of the parties in the time period around 1967-1968.  I 
think we didn't include it when SECC took over the GQP in 1999. We 
patterned our GQP on the revived FQP of the year before that didn't even 
include 80.  We included 80, but didn't think about the historical 
precedent of including 160M.  Now that I think of it, our early QSOs 
included two meters and must have included six meters also.  In the 
latter part of the time I ran the GQP in the late 1970s or early 1980s, 
I recall working stations on 146.52 simplex (repeater QSOs were not 
permitted).  I didn't have a six meter rig capable of QSOs on CW or SSB 
until 1994.

And just to respond to someone who invariably wants us to make GA 
counties mults for GA stations too, remember about increasing the mults 
so that they are relatively meaningless.  But the real reason is from 
many years of observing that, in QSO parties that allow county mults for 
in state stations, there is a lot of low band activity when propagation 
hardly exists outside the state and there are a lot of in state stations 
who run around calling other stations in the state and not working any 
or many out-of-state stations. I think of these as "inward directed" QSO 
parties.  I understand that ours is to promote GA and to help anyone 
work all GA counties.  If that is the case, our current rule that allows 
GA stations to count GA as one mult and all other states and Canadian 
areas strikes the correct balance.  It is also consistent with the rule 
for the majority of state QSO parties.

73, John, K4BAI.