[VHFcontesting] A Suggestion for Rovers, and everyone else too

[perfectbowler at juno.com]

Jim I liked you last comment about giving a call before QSY.  I will be roving this weekend with a rover who runs 6-10G.  I will try to use this tatic this weekend.  I am like you I love to work the rover stations but they just disappear.  Some of that I contribute to band running but I also contribute it to the fact that the rules allow for a "driver" yet fixed stations can run an operator per band all the way up the scale.  If the "driver" was allowed to also be an operator and not just a relief operator and put a second voice on the air, then I feal you would hear more rovers calling cq.  As it is now with only one voice on the air we must hunt and peck then run the bands to get the max points we can.  But again I like your suggestion and will try and reply back to you as how it worked out.
Dave N3XUD part of the N3IQ/R Team  in central PA

-- Jimk8mr at aol.com wrote:
In a message dated 1/14/2009 7:44:06 A.M.  Eastern Standard Time, 
chetsubaccount at snet.net writes:

Further, I find it  very interesting to read how the rovers say they are
calling CQ. I tune A  LOT, often in between my CQ's, and it is quite unusual
for me to come across  a rover calling CQ. And I do deliberately turn toward
the grids and freq.'s  that they have announced, hoping to find them (it is a
treat to get a rover  contact) but almost never seem to hear anyone there.
Perhaps that is due to  them only being in one spot an hour or two, their
going off to run the bands  or S&P, or our beams only toward each other a
short amount of that time,  not like the fixed stations that I will
eventually encounter sometime or  other over the weekend. 

=========================


I also  spend a lot of time tuning, and don't often hear rovers CQing. 
Admittedly, there  is not much serious rover activity here in NE Ohio, other than 
the couple of  active VE3 rovers when they make it to the north shore of Lake 
Erie.  But  from my perspective, rovers would do a lot better jumping on the 
calling  frequencies to solicit random qsos, while maintaining their standard 
default  frequencies up the band for coordinating contacts on the upper  bands.

Another thing that drives me slightly crazy - and this is not  restricted to 
rovers, but is more of a problem with them due to the limited time  they spend 
at any given location - is guys moving to other bands without taking  a 
moment to listen for other callers who may have heard them.  After all,  for 
finding activity, listening to a couple of guys arranging schedules is  almost as 
good as listening to a guy calling CQ.

So instead of just  disappearing before hitting the band switch, please take 
a moment to say  something like 

"THIS IS K8ROV/ROVER - ANYBODY ELSE OUT THERE BEFORE I  GO?" 

If nobody comes back in 3 seconds, hit the switch. But you may find  some 
extra qsos, including guys who will follow you to the other bands. And you  won't 
let the rest of us hanging, wondering if you will be back in 30 seconds,  
five minutes, or ever.


73  -  Jim   K8MR  

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