[VHFcontesting] "Captive Rover" talking point, debunked

[jeff millar]

The looong note below debunks the "captive rover" talking point and
starts to make the case for rules changes that advance the hobby.

We need to ask, "What are the right rules to encourage the kind of
amateur skills we value?"

Apparently, the rules encourage building equipment and making points
on the microwave bands. The stations with the best ability to implement
those rules make more points.

Furthermore, the rules encourage spreading microwave equipment on
as many bands as possible to as many stations as possible. The stations
that develop the technology to produce multiple equipment packages
and get them into the hands of more operators make more points.

Beyond the rules issue, some of the people who use the microwave
equipment developed for the contest grow into active microwave hams
with powerful rover stations. This is classic "elmering".

The term "captive rover" is an odd twist. What really going on is
building effective equipment and getting into peoples hands for use on the
microwaves.

The term "Elmered Rover" makes more sense. They start out with simple
equipment and make few contacts, then some of them grow into major
rover stations that contribute significantly to the scores of many stations.

No rover, whether Elmered or not, would really pass up an opportunity
to make another contact. But the reality of microwaves and directional
antennas make random contacts more rare. It takes a lot of contest skill,
experience, and coordination to make multiple contacts from a remote
rover site.

Let's be honest and straightforward. All this talk about "captive rovers"
is really an attempt to neutralize the score advantage gained by building
microwave equipment in small volumes, spreading it through the ham
community, and training people to use it in a contest. The people who
Elmer Rovers should get an award, not complaints.

So, what are the right rules to encourage the amateur skills we value?
The present rules have been around for a long time and technology has
changed quite a bit over years. It's reasonable to discuss changing the
rules to encourage new behavior and skills development.

But, let's stop with the "captive rover" talking point.
That's not what's going on, it's just a sound bite created to throw mud
at people who work very hard to help people, advance the hobby,
and score points.

Think of it this way. What if every Multi/Unlimited station elmered
rovers? The amateur community would have more microwave activity,
more hams with microwave experience, more demand for microwave
equipment. That's exactly what we want...an incentive to develop
people and the hobby.

I was going to put some contest change ideas here, but the points
above deserve a full discussion without contamination by my crackpot
ideas for the future. Later...

jeff, wa1hco