[VHFcontesting] Self-Spotting for Rovers

[Les Rayburn]

In complete agreement with Jay, Marshall, and others.

If we could make only one rule change in the ARRL Rules for contests 
above 50 MHz it should be to allow
rovers to self-spot and announce their call sign, six digit grid square, 
and frequency on Internet reflectors, APRS, repeaters, or other venues. 
I'm not even opposed to allowing them to make cell phone calls!

Anything that rewards rovers for their efforts is a benefit to us all. 
Nothing worse than running through a tank of gas, making a long trek to 
remote locations, and then failing to attract the attention of fixed 
stations.

There's also an operator safety issue. In the ARRL UHF Contest in 2009, 
I was operating in a remote location in EM61. I took an unpaved public 
road to the top of a small hill just before sundown. There was literally 
not a soul around for miles---within a half hour or so, 15-20 rough 
looking locals showed up on motorcycles to park at the top of the same 
hill in the clearing.

I got a bunch of angry looks, and could tell that the vibe wasn't right. 
Fortunately, my cell still worked, so I called my wife and gave her my 
lat/long location and the name of the road according to my GPS. And 
drove away quickly. I had told her that if she didn't hear from me in 
twenty minutes to call the cops.

Scary. So much so that I didn't exit the vehicle to lower the 2 Meter 
dual loops, and ended up shearing off the fiberglass pole that they were 
mounted on passing a tree limb overhang on the way down. I dragged those 
loop another five miles before I dared to stop and collect them.


-- 
73,

*Les Rayburn, N1LF*
EM63nf
121 Mayfair Park Maylene, AL 35114
6M VUCC #1712
Grid Pirates #222
Life Member Central States VHF

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