[VHFcontesting] VHF Contesting: Fixing the Grid Circling

[Tree]

> Well, if enough refuse to submit logs or even participate in contests 
> that accept such "grid circling" behaviour, the rules will change.  I'd 
> hate to see it come to that, but it's always an option.  Sometimes to 
> have to vote with your feet.  People tend to listen when the silence 
> becomes deafening.

Hopefully, it won't come to that.

After doing more thinking about this - I think I can articulate what it is
about grid circling that really makes it incompatible with the rest of the
contest.  

For the rest of us, we turn on our radios and work the stations that we 
hear on the band.  If you get up on a mountain top, you probably hear 
more stations than you did at home.  If you get a good e-skip opening, 
then you get to put more guys in the log.  

The opportunities are basically the same for anyone else in your area.
If they turn on their radio, they would essentially hear the same things
you do.  

I admit there are geographical differences - you will work more guys on
two meters from FN32 than you will from DN32...  but you are operating 
the same contest.

In each case, as each of us get on - we help add to the activity of the 
contest.  If I choose to be active, maybe 80 guys will have one more
QSO in their log in my local area as a result.  My activity does help 
everyone else out - and I have a small impact to the general activity 
level.

A true rover can give perhaps 5 or 10 QSOs to the locals - which is 
a pretty nice impact.  Having two or three rovers around in your area
can have a nice impact to your score - especially on the more difficult
bands where you wouldn't have a chance to working anyone.

In the case of a pack of circling rovers, they are creating a totally 
artifical situation where most, if not all, of the activity is generated
by their partners.  Take away the QSOs made by their partners and you 
have a totally insignificant rover score.  They are not significantly
increasing the overall activity level of the contest (since they tend
to pick fairly unpopulated places to do their roving).  

Their score isn't limited by the same issues a "normal" rover would 
have to deal with - like being able to get a signal into a population 
area - or making sure you are awake when that e-skip opening occurs.

They have worked out a schedule and "dance" to maximize the number of
grid circles they can work - and to optimize the QSOs with their 
partners.  It is like having schedules all setup for you before the 
contest - and being 100 percent assured that conditions will support
the QSO.  

Sure - it requires a lot of equipment to do this - not an easy thing 
to do.  A good operator will also help - as you can make the QSOs 
quicker.  However, I don't think this is a healthy use of the capability.  

VHF contesting - outside the big cities - is a very boring thing.  We
need more rovers to make the contest more exciting for the masses.  We
should not be enouraging world class rover stations to end up working
only themselves over the duration of the contest.  Allowing them to 
compete against our "true" rovers - ends up creating discouragement.  

I still believe that a simple rule will discourage anyone from ever putting 
together a big operation like this again.  We don't need to worry about what 
percentage constitutes grid circling as nobody will bother doing it.  We 
aren't out to punish the little guy - or guys who end up at the same grid
junction and end up creating a dozen or so QSOs...  we are just making it
clear we don't want to continue seeing logs with 99 percent of their 
1700 QSOs with the same two stations.  

Tree N6TR