[VHFcontesting] APRS and Contesting

[John Geiger]

Anyone who is more interested in watching Oprah should be banned for life
from contesting.

73s John AA5JG

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Dan_K9ZF" <n9rla at yahoo.com>
To: "Stephen Hicks, N5AC" <n5ac at n5ac.com>
Cc: "'Bruce Richardson'" <w9fz at w9fz.com>; <vhfcontesting at contesting.com>
Sent: Friday, August 10, 2007 2:04 AM
Subject: Re: [VHFcontesting] APRS and Contesting


> I like the APRS idea, although I have to admit to completely selfish
> reasons:-)
>
> HamIM is a good start, and has more potential than what you might
> think.  Many Rovers look for high spots to operate from to help maximize
> their range.  This would help your HamIM foot print as well.  And it's
> also nice to KNOW you can work the Rover if he pops up on your screen.
> The main draw back I see is convincing enough stations to give it a
> try.  It would have to reach a certain "critical mass" to really catch on.
>
> APRS may already have that "critical mass" established, but I'm not yet
> convinced.   How much crossover do you believe there is with weak signal
> ops / contesters and the APRS crowd?
>
> It would be really nice for "everyone" to know when I'm in range.  All
> too often I pull up to a hilltop in a new grid, and can't raise anyone.
> I have a pretty decent signal, but it's hard to make QSO's with folks
> who are more interested in watching Oprah...  Maybe seeing the Rovers on
> the APRS screen would help keep them in the game.  It may even attract a
> whole new set of ops who enjoy tracking Rovers:-)  Seriously, it may
> help attract some of the APRS group into contesting, and we could sure
> use the new blood.
>
> It has a lot of potential.  I remember my first IN QSO Party on HF a few
> years ago.  Late in the contest I had worked all the mobiles and locals
> I could hear, but came across an Aeronautical Mobile station.  [this was
> allowed in the INQP].    Anyway, the QSO rate was pretty low, but it was
> a lot of fun just following the plane from county to county.  I think I
> worked him in a dozen or so counties:-)  It may be fun for some stations
> to follow the Rovers from grid to grid in the same way:-)
>
>
> As far as the hard core fixed station loosing his advantage, sadly, that
> would be a side effect.  However, how many of those new guys from the
> APRS crowd would he find and work?   How many more Rovers would he work
> that even HE was missing?  An op with that kind of work ethic and
> dedication will find a way to win, even without this old advantage.
> I'll bet this is often the same op with the most efficient feed lines,
> the low noise pre-amps, and keeps the CW key handy for the weak ones as
> well...
>
> OK, back in my hole.  I still have a ton of stuff to do if I want to
> Rove in September.  And I still haven't finished keying in my CQ-VHF
> log!  Paper logging sucks, never again....
>
> 73
> Dan
> -- 
> K9ZF /R no budget Rover ***QRP-l #1269
> Check out the Rover Resource Page at: <http://www.qsl.net/n9rla>
> List Administrator for: InHam+grid-loc+ham-books
> Ask me how to join the Indiana Ham Mailing list!
>
>
> >
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