[VHFcontesting] A racing analogy

[Duane - N9DG]

Perhaps an analogy will illustrate the “problem” of grid circling…

How do you suppose all the participants in, and spectators of, the Indy 500 would feel if a small group of 8 cars ran a race at the same time as the Indy 500 on another race track? And then this group of 8 just simply went round and round the track for 200 laps without actually "competing" with each other at all. And to also not have to be "bothered" with actually interacting with anyone else who is in the race over at the Indy Motor Speedway. Meanwhile over at the Indy Motor Speedway all the other drivers are truly competing with each other for first place. And then when the race at the Indy Motor Speedway ends those 8 cars who ran the (separate) race over on the other track just come waltzing on over the winners circle of the Indy Motor Speedway for a nice big bottle of cold milk.

Do you think that could ever happen? Do you think that the sponsors, the other drivers, or the spectators would ever put up with it? So why would a contest sponsor want to allow the equivalent such a thing to occur in a VHF contest?

If grid circlers really want to have their “fun”, then give them their own completely separate contest to do so on some other weekend. After all they provide almost no Q’s whatsoever to any of the other participants in the contest, their operations are almost entirely confined within their own orchestrated group. And therefore given that, the rest of the VHF contest participants would not miss them anyhow.

It will be an extremely sad day indeed when all of VHF contesting devolves into a collection of small groups who are all planning and using exclusionary to anyone outside of their own little group strategies and tactics in order to win. And I do have to wonder how many have already given up on roving just because what is going on with this circling stuff already?

So, given the all the problems surrounding roving and grid circling I have reach a point of agreeing with those that just want to ban all rover to rover Q’s completely. And perhaps taking it to an even more extreme step, just ban roving period. Extremely harsh I know, but I think those rovers who would really want to continue participating in VHF contests would simply transition to building the best station that they can for operating at a single portable location for the entire contest. But they'll at least have the benefit and satisfaction of knowing that their successes will more or less match their fixed station peers for the region of the country where they operate.

Duane
N9DG