[VHFcontesting] 5 Band VUCC Award

[Les Rayburn]

Several amateurs have written to tell me that they are reaching out to 
their ARRL Division Directors and endorsing the idea of a Five Band 
VHF-UHF Century Club Award. My hope is
that VHF Associations such as the SEVHFS, Central States, AMSAT, etc. 
would also endorse the proposal.

Some more clarification on my suggestion to create a Five Band VHF-UHF 
Century Club Award:

The main purpose of the award is to increase on-air activity both during 
contests and band openings. It would also spur activity on linear 
satellites, and hopefully encourage more weak signal operators to
try satellite operation.

  There are more than a few operators who have already achieved VUCC on 
multiple bands,
and worked a lot of grids during their careers. Some of these stations 
now only get on for contests, and largely ignore band openings and day 
to day operation. The award is an incentive for
these stations to return to the air since it resets everyone's score 
card to zero.

My other hope is that the award will help to elevate the status of the 
VUCC Award overall, and encourage more operators to get involved in VHF 
DXing.

1.) A requirement to include at least one of the lower VHF bands such as 
6 Meters, 2 Meters, or 222 to prevent someone from simply going out with 
microwave gear and earning the award
in a weekend. Personally, I would favor 2 Meters as a requirement since 
this is perhaps the most difficult of the VUCC Awards to achieve and 
would insure the most on-air activity.

2.) By making the award a Five Band award, you insure that at least one 
microwave band will be required to earn the award, thus increasing 
participation on the Microwave bands. (Technically, this
could be avoided by earning one for Satellite operation and then 902, 
but you get the point)

3.) Satellite VUCC has been available since the award was created. It 
would remain one of the options for earning the award and qualify as a 
"band" for that purpose. Anyone who thinks Satellite work
isn't weak signal doesn't operate satellites.

4.) Resetting everyone to zero has no bearing on past VUCC award credit, 
FEMA credit, or your bragging rights. It just helps to get people out of 
their chair during the NFL Championship game and back
onto the air. It also simplifies the programming requirements for 
Logbook of the World in implementing the new award, and makes it faster 
for the ARRL to implement the new award.

5.) Endorsements for modes such as CW, digital, EME, etc. would 
certainly be a good option. If anyone could earn this award on a single 
mode or type of propagation my hat would really be off to you!
More likely would be endorsements for other bands, so you could have a 
eight band VUCC, etc.

To work the award would need a lot of Public Relations support from the 
ARRL to promote it, and build it's prestige among amateurs. Sean are you 
listening? (ha, ha) VUCC has always suffered
an identity crisis among hams, and been viewed as the "little brother" 
to the DXCC. The Fred Fish Memorial Award seems to have avoided that 
problem, and is coveted by operators.

Have you checked the total number of VUCC Awarded once you exclude 6 
Meters? It's amazingly small on some bands---proof positive that even 
VHF Operators don't always consider VUCC as
a goal. Changing the perception of the award will be an important job 
for the league and VHF associations.


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73,

Les Rayburn, N1LF
121 Mayfair Park
Maylene, AL 35114
EM63nf

6M VUCC #1712
AMSAT #38965
Grid Bandits #222
Southeastern VHF Society
Central States VHF Society Life Member
Six Club #2484

Active on 6 Meters thru 1296, 10GHz & Light