[VHFcontesting] Lunch box roving

[frank bechdoldt]

What does it accomplish when a bunch of hams borrow one of 8 millionaire’s lunch box stations and activate the bands by repetitively contacting each other?
 
The ARRL uses contests to create activity to justify the frequency allocations we now enjoy.  I would imagine that a group of 8 rovers in 3 roving categories could generate about 25 percent of the total QSOs of the entire QSO count of the whole contest.
 
If Verizon, AT&T, ect…  knew that the ARRL is using data collected from the use of Wayne’s lunchboxes to block them from purchasing this spectrum they would have a legal field day. 
 
Their posting http://www.arrl.org/contests/soapbox/?con_id=171 proves what I have said all along. The only way to fix the roving system is to disallow rover to rover contacts unless both rovers are unlimited.  Otherwise Wayne is going to keep buying more lunch boxes find more people we have never seen in our VHF log books to complete larger teams  and stick his finger in the ARRL’s and VUAC’s eye. 
 
That being said, if this was done only in the unlimited class, it would be appropriate and quite remarkable. But I think by buying 8 lunch boxes Wayne and handing some of them off to repeater operators is his way of saying the current system is broken too.
 
I only hope that his effort converted some FMer to true weak signal work. In fact if he was truly concerned in boosting the activity levels e would let those operators mount the equipment at their home QTH’s.  Otherwise this contest has turned into a function of Wayne’s ego.
 
If I'm wrong, publish the logs.
 
k3uhf 
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