[VHFcontesting] rules

[Marshall Williams]

Hi George....I just spent two hours writing to another guy that was 
offended by my comments.  I guess that I was too tart in my tone.  
However, on these reflectors, I can't afford the time to write two pages 
of reply to every topic.  It has to be short....no one would read two 
pages anyway.  You cut off the comments of the poster that I was 
agreeing with, so the context is lost. 

It is clear, that I messed up that one sentence.  I was too 
hasty.....what I should have said is "if we could just get the HF ways 
of doing things out of the world of VHF.....".  Maybe even that is too 
harsh....I have never been a great wordsmith.  It is not the HF operator 
that I want out of VHF.  I welcome all to the wonderful world of VHF / 
UHF operations. 

 However, I believe that most of the rules / restrictions in the VHF 
contests have an HF heritage.  To those of us who think that "You can 
either work them or you can't", none of these restrictions make any 
sense.  Therefore, we believe that they should be removed.  As everyone 
can see, there are a number of other VHFers that feel the same way.  
There have been many posts here and on other reflectors that mirror the 
same sentiments.  You seem to like the old rules.....that's OK.....you 
can lobby for retaining the old ways.....I will lobby for what I, and 
many others, think is a better, less restrictive set of rules.  I want 
VHF contesting to be INCLUSIVE rather than EXCLUSIVE. 

If you feel as I do, write the VUAC and let your views be known.  If you 
like the old rules, go watch a football game!!!  73's to all .... 
Marshall K5QE

George Fremin III wrote:

>On Mon, Jan 28, 2008 at 07:20:27PM -0600, Marshall Williams wrote:
>  
>
>>RRR....if we could just get the HFers out of the world of VHF, most 
>>things would work better. 
>>    
>>
>
>I am sorry to hear you feel this way - while I learned how to do
>contests mostly on the HF bands and I operate more HF events that VHF
>ones - I really do enjoy making contacts on the VHF bands and
>operating in VHF contests.
>
>Your post makes me (and and am sure many other HF ops) feel very
>un-welcome.  I feel that I have spent a fair amount of time and effort
>over the years to get as many HF contesters as I can to put up
>antennas and turn on their radios during the various VHF contests
>during the year.  We really need as much activity as we can get and
>most of these lowly HF contesters have towers strong enough to hold up
>a few VHF/UHF antennas.  After all, they already know and love the
>contest part of the game - so that half of the battle is taken care
>of.
>
>  
>
>>necessarily have to be closely related, since the nature of HF and VHF 
>>contesting is significantly different.
>>    
>>
>
>I have heard this many times before and I have never understood how
>there is much of a difference.  I have been doing HF and VHF contests
>for many years now and I do not view them as being any different.  When
>I am operating a VHF contest - I approach it just like any HF contest I
>have ever done.  It seems to work.  It would be useful if you or
>someone could explain the differences in HF and VHF contests.
>
>  
>
>>Take a look a the rules for the CQ VHF contest.  Basically, anything 
>>goes.  You can look at the Internet(anywhere in the Internet, I 
>>believe).  The prop logger pages, spotting pages, realtime scheduling 
>>pages, APRS, whatever.  You can make schedules on line, you can call 
>>them on the phone and remind them to get on.  You can do whatever it 
>>takes, BUT you still have to make a VALID contact. 
>>    
>>
>
>I do not see this in the rules.  It is true that I do not see it as
>being excluded in the rules.  I do see that the rules do say you can
>not do most of this as a single op entrant.
>
>  
>
>>The CQ VHF contest 
>>is fast becoming one of the Majors precisely because it is not burdened 
>>down with arcane restrictions that were put there by HF ops that have no 
>>clue what we do.  
>>    
>>
>
>Maybe - but I am sure there might be other reasons. 
>- Good conditions last year or so.
>- Only two bands.
>- A second summertime contest with e-skip.
>
>
>  
>
>>VHF contesting should about making the contact now about HOW you found 
>>the station on the other end.  Either you can work them, or you can't.  
>>If you can work a station, how you found out that he was there is 
>>immateriel.  If you can't work the station, all the restrictive rules 
>>are meaningless anyway.  Focus on the CONTACTS.....the rest will come 
>>along nicely. 
>>    
>>
>
>I think it would be great to focus on making contacts on the radio.
>
>I do not want be a contest to see how much time I need to spend in the
>internet chat room getting folks to run skeds with me and telling them
>to try again since I did not quite hear them the last time around etc.
>
>I do not want it to be a contest about calling the rovers up on the
>phone to find out if they are in the next grid and then telling them
>to listen for dahs so we can get the beams lined up all coordinated
>over the phone so we can exchange callsigns and grids on the radio.
>
>I do not want it to be a contest about how many DX announcements I can
>put out for my own station on the packet systems to get folks to
>listen for me and to tell them just where I am calling CQ and what
>direction I am beaming.
>
>I want to make contacts on the radio in the radio contest.
>
>I love operating radio contests.  
>
>You don't need all of these phone calls, or schedules, or internet chat
>rooms to do well in a VHF contest.
>
>You have built up a very fine station - you do not need to be calling
>folks on the phone or on the internet to make contacts.
>
>You have the station hardware to make the big scores without calling
>the rovers up on the phone during the contest.
>
>
>  
>