[VHFcontesting] CW

[Bill Olson]

Hi Garie, Well that's a good point about the rules. BUT some responses to 
this thread (W3IY I believe) were talking about making CW a separate band or 
like field day where you get to operate both for contest credit - in which 
case that would *change* the rules... right?

What I am trying to say here, and I think we both agree on this, is that the 
benefits of the mode should be the reward for operating cw. Increasing the 
points for a cw qso will not help anything. Then the big guns will just 
switch to cw before logging the qso!

I am certainly not giving up on entry level contesters. They are our FUTURE. 
If *increasing the point count* for cw contacts made the entry level 
stations more able to compete this would be incentive, but since it does not 
(it just raises EVERYONE'S score) then I do not believe so...(I guess we DO 
disagree here!) What we need to do is educate the newcomers about the 
benefits of the mode and actually I guess that's what we're doing here - 
even by disagreeing.. If we can get newcomers to VHF to discover the 
advantages of CW, GREAT!! For some, however, code is not fun and they do NOT 
want to learn it. Heck, it's just a hobby so I want the contest to be FUN 
for these hams too...

73, bill K1DY

>From: Garie Halstead <k8kfj at ntelos.net>
>To: Bill Olson <callbill at hotmail.com>
>CC: w3iy at fcc.net, vhfcontesting at contesting.com
>Subject: Re: [VHFcontesting] CW
>Date: Thu, 24 Jan 2002 18:53:03 +0000
>
>On Thursday, 24 January 2002, Bill Olson wrote:
>
> > What good does it do to give
> > EVERYBODY in the contest a boost in QSO totals?? ("Thanks for the SSB 
>qso,
> > OM, now please go to CW")
>
>Oh, come on Bill...you can't do that anyway.  Rule 1.4 of "General
>Rules for ARRL Contests on bands above 50MHz" states...
>       -- Stations may be worked for credit only once per band from
>          any given grid square REGARDLESS OF MODE--
>
> > The entry level
> > contesters would most likely NOT see it as incentive to learn code, and
> > would just make them less able to compete - a negative incentive.
>
>I would have thought the opposite would have been true.  My thoughts
>are that it would give entry level contesters *more* incentive to
>learn the code.  On this we disagree.
>
> > Plus, while I am a big proponent of CW in contests and ALWAYS use the 
>mode,
> > what are we trying to accomplish here?? Get more operators on CW before 
>we
> > "lose the mode"??
>
>Not really.  In fact, I think you answered that question in your own
>post Bill.  It gives one the ability to make a QSO that might otherwise
>wouldn't have been possible (given an existing noise level and
>propagation at the time).  I think we all can point to CW QSOs that
>in all probability couldn't have been completed on SSB.
>
> > I don't think giving more points for cw contacts helps anything. It WILL
> > alienate stations who do not or do not wish to use CW.
>
>Or give them the incentive to "get after it".  Sounds as if you've
>given up on our entry level VHF contesters Bill.  I've given them a
>lot more credit and know many that are working hard at it.  Who knows,
>after learning it, it may turn out to be their favorite mode (which
>is what happened to me).  Naw, I don't think they're going to play
>dead and I wish you had more confidence in them.
>
>73 //Gary *K8KFJ*
>


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