[VHFcontesting] Contest rules revamp

[Don T. "AI4CW"]

How about a QRP class that allows home QTH operations at low power?  No 
reason that the only QRP category should be portable.  Low Power is 
great for all of the stations that have the 100W multiband rigs, but the 
folks using older gear that only have 5-10 watts to work with are 
severely handicapped.  They should at least have the opportunity to 
improve their situation with the best antenna farm they can muster.
The point is to get the folks on the air, right?

And no, I've got around 100W on 2M, 300+W on 220 and 70W on 432 once I 
get the antennas back in the air, so I'm not whining for my sake!  It's 
just that I've been there  (will still have only 10W PEP on 6M for the 
VHF QSO party, but that'll change soon after) with older 6 & 2M rigs in 
the past and have seen the frustration firsthand in my experience as 
well as the folks that I set up with the gear afterwards.  They probably 
would have been more encouraged if they knew their contest scores would 
be judged against like stations instead of 100W stations simply because 
of their operating location.  If they build a nice antenna array to make 
the best use of their low power levels, they certainly shouldn't be 
penalized for it because of the rules lumping them into a class that 
allows ten times the power!

I also like the idea of a limited single-op 4 band class; it might help 
me a lot once I've got everything back on the air!  For now, my goal is 
simply to get the tower up with the 6M gear operational for the QSO 
party.  I'll be out looking for someone to sandblast a couple of parts 
for the erection system today in hopes of having the tower up this week. 
  That should give me time to get the bugs worked out for single band 
operations this time around.

Dan's a nice guy; got to meet him for the first time at this year's 
Huntsville Hamfest and really enjoyed it.  He seemed to especially enjoy 
it when my daughter (KG4QII) came up begging for more money!  I guess 
that's one of those things that folks without children really enjoy ...
;-D

73, 
Don T.		AI4CW		EM64