[VHFcontesting] General VHF Rules 1.2 and 1.3

[Jimk8mr at aol.com]

Duffy  -  
 
 
I haven't done a lot of research, but then again nobody has ever provided  
and authoritative answer.
 
I think the multi-entry rule has been around longer than rovers. My own  
guess is that way, way back (60s?) there were single band entries, as well as  
multiband entries. They did not want someone operating multiband and then  
submitting multiple entries to win multiple single band awards.  
 
The problem with the one-transmitter/call rule is that the person who  
benefits - the big gun who these guys work - is not subject to the rule.   The 
guys who would violate the rule to provide the manufactured qsos are not  
going to submit a log anyway, so they are not affected.  Unless log  checking 
is going to catch such qsos, if they indeed exist, the present rule  does 
little to stop manufactured qsos.
 
Meanwhile it would be fun to fire up Sunday evening with a new call, and  
work again all those guys I had worked earlier in the contest. And since a  
fundamental law of contesting is "activity begets activity", having new guys 
to  work later in the contest may well have benefits beyond just the 
activity  generated by those new guys.
 
I think a rule such as "once a new call has been used from a given  
location, any previously used call may not make any further qsos" would be the  way 
to go.
 
 
73  -  Jim   K8MR
 
 
 
 
In a message dated 3/4/2010 12:21:47 P.M. Eastern Standard Time,  
jamesduffey at comcast.net writes:

Jim - I  agree with you that General Rule 1.3 stifles a lot of activity. In 
addition to  precluding effective mentoring of newcomers, it also prevents 
rovers from  submitting a fixed or QRP portable entry in addition to the 
rover entry when  they stop overnight, and it also prevents an easy way to get 
those capable VHF  stations that are not being used in the contest on the 
air. 

I suspect  that this rule came about as a consequence of two events. The 
first is that  between the times the QRP Portable category was instituted and 
before the  Rover Category was instituted it was commonplace for QRP Portable
 stations to  act like present day rovers, operating from several grids 
during a contest and  submitting logs from each grid they operated in. This 
resulted in the same  person winning the QRP Portable Category in multiple 
sections, having the top  2 or 3 scores in a section, regardless of class, and 
in at least one occasion,  a single station appearing twice in the top ten 
list. I think the multiple  entry rule was instituted about the same time the 
rover class was started.  Although I do not see anything wrong with this 
practice, some felt it was an  abuse of the system and one of the faults that 
the rover class was supposed to  cure. 

The second event, I suspect is that some clubs were using  multiple entries 
from the same operator to boost their score. So, if several  big guns in a 
club got together for a multi effort their stations would sit  idle. Why not 
get someone who is a good op to go around and operate their  stations in 
rotation, put them on the air and make some more points for the  club? I don't 
see anything wrong with this practice either, as long as the  idle stations 
being put on the air worked lots of stations outside the club.  

As you say, while not exactly commonplace, this is done on HF,  
particularly in Sweepstakes where once the majority of sections, or all the  sections 
are worked then one can contribute to a club score more effectively  by 
putting another station on the air rather than to continue to accumulate  
additional QSOs with no more mults. 

Rule 1.2 was certainly instituted  to prevent manufactured contacts and I 
agree, if one could separate the QSOs  one gets from tutoring newcomers from 
those made to manufacture QSOs it would  be good, but I don't quite see how 
to do this. 

In politics when  encountering something bizarre, the common saying is to 
"follow the money". In  VHF contesting it seems to be "follow the club 
competitions". :^)=  -  Duffey=