[VHFcontesting] Is Grid Squaring or Microwave QSO Points the Issue?

[James Duffey]

Erich - You wrote:
	My experience shows that the microwave contacts are actually harder.  
It may not be the case at grid corners, but over any appreciable 		 
difference, it is more difficult. It is much easier to pump out the  
QSOs on 6 or 2 than to set up the narrow beam on the microwave bands. 	 
The additional points probably don't completely compensate for the  
additional time required. The whole purpose of the VHF contests is to 	 
encourage activity on all of the upper ham bands. From feedline loss  
to equipment construction to antenna precision, the degree of 	 is 	 
greater on the microwave bands. If the scoring was to reflect that, it  
would look something like this 6M, 1point (in June 0.1point); 2M, 	,  
1point; 1296 2points; 222, 1296 3points; 2304 - 10000 4 points; 24GHz  
8points; above 10 points. Sure commercial gear is available, but 	 
usually not on a ham budget. If I had a $100k I could set up a killer  
station using commercial gear.

That microwave band QSOs are usually harder to make than the lower  
band QSOs is true. But the higher points allocated to these QSOs has  
meant that the VHF contest has turned into a microwave contest, that  
is to have any real chance of being competitive in any but a limited  
class, one must add as many microwave bands as possible. It is not  
clear to me, nor to others that this is good for the sport. It puts  
the emphasis on equipment, not operating, and it puts off many  
potential HF contesters from entering the sport who put a premium on  
operating skill.

And the microwave QSO points compound the rover grid squaring issue.  
Gird squaring compounds the microwave QSO point issue. That was my  
point. They both contribute to the issue list members are addressing.

You can put together a killer station for a lot less than $100k using  
commercial gear. Less than $10k will do a "killer" job for 6M through  
3 cm. While not cheap, it is certainly in the reach of many amateurs,  
and affordable to those if done a band or a few bands at a time over  
several years. - Duffey

--
KK6MC
James Duffey
Cedar Crest NM