[VHFcontesting] Roving and Hamfests

Sat Sep 4 00:06:14 EDT 2004

The basic fundamental tenet of an amateur radio contest is that you 
initiate your QSOs via radio techniques.  This has been re-affirmed by most 
of the major organizations that sponsor radio contests.  You don't call 
people on the telephone to get them to work you, you don't send them 
Internet e-mails to get them to work you and you don't advertise your 
presence for contest QSOs by sitting in the midst of hamfest.

While I would agree that encouraging activity on VHF bands is a noble and 
worthy effort, but it does not take precedence over the requirement to 
initiate QSOs via radio techniques.  Your example about driving a rover 
down the highway and somebody seeing you is not at all the same 
situation.  That situation is essentially a random QSO that you did not 
anticipate.  In the hamfest situation QSOS ARE anticipated - that's the 
whole point of this discussion.

If you're so concerned about encouraging activity on VHF, then why not take 
your VHF gear to every hamfest to make contacts?  The fact that there is no 
contest that weekend should not matter.

However, let me relate a somewhat relevent example that actually happened 
probably a decade ago.

In 160M contests, daytime activity is VERY, VERY slow but the multi-op 
stations sit and call CQ all day, grinding out the occasional short-range 
local QSO while waiting for darkness to fall again bringing longer skip and 
more activity.  An enterprising 160M contester had a novel idea.  He had 
the proprietor of a local ham store set up their in-store demo radio on the 
contester's daytime CQing frequency along with a memory keyer programmed to 
send the exchange.  Customers visiting the store could work the contester 
by simply sending their own callsign and punching the memory button.  The 
result was an extra 90 or so QSOs

Word got out about this situation which got back to the contest sponsor, 
who  made it known to the contester that if he submitted the log with the 
QSOs "from the store" included the entry would be disqualified.

In any case, neither your opinion nor mine matters.  What matters are the 
rules and their interpretation by the contest sponsor.

Dave/K8CC

At 10:29 PM 9/2/04 -0500, tom wrote:
>What is wrong with this answer?  We are suppose to encourge activity on
>these bands. What great exposure.  I see nothing wrong with operating at a
>hamfest site.  If for example you are driving a rover down the highway and
>someone sees you operating then must you ask did you see me and if so not
>count the contact.  As long as the rules must be a different radio and must
>be able to communicate over one mile then operating at a hamfest would be no
>different then letting folks know that you will be on during a contest when
>you see them in person.  I suppose someone could buy 100 handie talkies and
>hand them out at a hamfest and get QSO's that way but if you have that much
>money you could get contacts other ways too.  How about a bunch of rovers at
>the South Pole?
>
>You can bend/ cheat the rules many ways some forget the real reason we have
>the contest.
>Tom AC5TM
>
>----- Original Message -----
>From: "David A. Pruett" <k8cc at comcast.net>
>To: <Jimk8mr at aol.com>; <vhfcontesting at contesting.com>
>Sent: Wednesday, September 01, 2004 10:33 PM
>Subject: Re: [VHFcontesting] Roving and Hamfests
>
>
> > At 08:15 PM 8/31/04 -0400, Jimk8mr at aol.com wrote:
> > >The September VHF QSO Party happens to coincide with two of the better
> > >hamfests in my area, Butler, PA (FN00) to the east of us, and Findlay, OH
> > >(EN81) to the west.  Both are fairly close to grid corners.
> > >
> > >My question:  would their be any serious problems, either rule wise or
> > >ethical, about setting up a rover stop at the hamfest - whether in the
> > >flea  market area or a nearby parking area?  Would working hamfest
> > >attendees on  FM - their radios, not ones provided by us - be a problem?
> >
> > I think there is an important distinction to be made here.
> >
> > If people initiate the QSO with you because they see you operating, I
>think
> > it's wrong.  It's a form of using non-amateur means (visual) to initiate a
> > contact.
> >
> > Here's some examples:
> >
> > If you're parked out of sight of the hamfest, and you're trolling the
>bands
> > (or calling CQ on an appropriate frequency) hoping to take advantage of
>the
> > hamfest activity, it's legit.
> >
> > If you're sitting in the hamfest or parking lot, and people see the rover
> > antennas on your minivan roof, ask what you're doing and dial up their HTs
> > to work you, it's wrong.
> >
> > Yes, I know either situation can be interpreted as a matter of degree.
>You
> > can make the argument that if two rovers encounter each other on a
>hilltop,
> > it's certainly not wrong for them to work each other.  But I think this is
> > different.
> >
> > Dave/K8CC
> >
> >
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