[VHFcontesting] Pre-contest skeds

[John Geiger]

Look at the activity level differences in those
contests.  On HF, unless it is a single band contest,
or I am a single band entry, I can get on and make
plenty of QSOs any time of day or night on at least a
couple of bands.  Not so on VHF!  At least in the
Midwest, you can sit and listen for a couple of hours
between QSOs, especially when conditions are flat-like
they generally are for the Jan VHF contest.  Skeds
help to break up the monotony some.  I have had a few
successful Meteor scatter skeds on 6 meters during VHF
contests, which gave me new grids.  As has been stated
before, meteor scatter or EME can be very difficult on
a random basis, unless there is a meteor shower going
on-and no major showers correspond with VHF contests.

I see nothing wrong with making precontest skeds for
HF, as long as the contest rules do not prohibit it. 
There is still no guarantee that the QSO will be made
due to propogation, etc.

The bigger problem I have is with the ARRL and CQ
removing "Unique" QSOs from logs, as they did in my CW
SS log.  It was a valid contact, the exchange was made
correctly, and it says nothing in the rules about how
a QSO only counts if both stations involved have
worked several other stations during the contest. 
What motivation do I then have for getting some
friends on for a contest to had out a QSO or two?  
I contact should be counted as good unless there is
ample evidence that it wasn't-like miscopied
exchanges, etc.

73s John NE0P 
--- Tree N6TR <tree at kkn.net> wrote:
> > True, but one thing you don't have too much of on
> VHF is the 
> > big time spotting on the clusters that you have on
> HF. Sorta 
> > like the contest where ZF2MM was posted a hundred
> times or so. 
> > That would seem to border on non-ham means during
> a contest.
> 
> Totally agree Frank.  However, I would like to point
> out that
> using cluster information puts you in a different
> category in
> HF contests.  Using skeds on VHF doesn't.
> 
> Tree
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