[VHFcontesting] Contesting Recruitment

[Zack Widup]

We've been having a local 2 meter FM Challenge type of contest for several
years. I've been lax in getting it organized lately but the ones we've had
have been mainly in February or March on a Sunday night. It's usually a
1-hour Sprint type of contest, complete with Rovers. Multipliers are the
local towns/cities you live in or rove to. Makes for fun trying to drive to
as many towns as you can in one hour! I think Sean KX9X originally came up
with the idea and I took it over when he moved out of the area.

http://www.qsl.net/k9cu/fmrules.html

73, Zack W9SZ


On Fri, Jun 19, 2009 at 9:11 AM, John Lindholm <w1xx at cox.net> wrote:

> Recruiting new participants to VHF contesting can be a boon to everyone's
> score.  But where can you find a crop of potential contesters?  Many newer
> hams today are often restricted by license and radio to 2-meter FM.  Many
> efforts have been made in the past to introduce contesting to 2-meter FM
> repeater-types only to be foiled by failure in most cases.
>
>
>
> But this is a different day.  Many of today's newer hams are truly
> interested in emergency communications through ARES, RACES, Skywarn, etc.
> In emergency situations, repeaters may be down, necessitating simplex
> operation.  My state of Rhode Island has an effective 2-meter simplex plan
> in effect for just such a situation.  Determining simplex coverage for a
> local area can be very useful information.  And, contest experienced
> operators make better emergency communicators.
>
>
>
> Encouraging 2-meter FM simplex contesting is the goal of the Ocean State
> 2-Meter FM Simplex Challenge - a chance to learn the basics of contest
> operating in a low pressure friendly manner.  It runs concurrent with the
> CQWW VHF Contest, July 18 - 19, with "focus hours" to concentrate activity.
> This was initially reported by N1HRA in February CQ with the 2008 contest
> results.  Details of the 2009 Challenge can be found on www.wa1rr.org
> <http://www.wa1rr.org/> .  It is not an original idea.  Milwaukee and the
> Twin Cities have run similar events.  KC9BQA has a wonderful website in
> which he promotes this concept.  See www.kc9bqa.com <
> http://www.kc9bqa.com/>
> .
>
>
>
> It's not too late for your club to sponsor such a recruitment
> event.concurrent with the CQWW or some other time.  Please feel free to
> borrow any ideas from the Ocean State contest.  You'll not only help make
> more Qs for everyone, you'll have the satisfaction of having Elmer'd
> someone
> to be a more proficient operator.
>
>
>
> John Lindholm, W1XX
>
> CQWW VHF Contest Director
>
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