[VHFcontesting] Comments on ARRL VHF/UHF Contest Rules Change Proposals

Sat Dec 6 19:24:29 EST 2014

Marshall,
    One problem with internet activity is that people tend to hang out on 
chat pages and run to a ham band, make a QSO and then go back to the chat 
page. I have seen a drop in real radio activity around here as chat pages 
became more common. The poor guys with no internet connection are at a 
disadvantage then. They have trouble even tail ending an internet influenced 
QSO. (Tell me about it!)_I did not have any internet at my remote ham shack 
in the past, and was getting killed in the Sprints etc as a result. Being in 
an outlying area, the number of people aiming my way were minimized as a 
result of my not being connected to the internet. Oh well, I bit the bullet 
and installed a high speed 5 GHz link up to the shack. I now have a high 
speed internet connection with very strong signal levels even during ice and 
snow storms. So I can go with the flow either way!

73
Dave K1WHS
Lebanon, ME

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Marshall-K5QE" <k5qe at k5qe.com>
To: "vhfcontesting at contesting.com" <VHFcontesting at contesting.com>
Sent: Saturday, December 06, 2014 10:27 PM
Subject: Re: [VHFcontesting] Comments on ARRL VHF/UHF Contest Rules Change 
Proposals


> Hello Jay, James, and others interested in this topic.  The Committee 
> identified three "goals" in their post.
>
> 1) Removal of the current prohibition on the use of Amateur and 
> non-Amateur forms of assistance for all operator categories, with such use 
> having no impact on entry category;
> 2)  Removal of the current prohibition on self-spotting for all operator 
> categories; and
>
> 3) Allowing single operators to transmit on more than one band at a time.
>
> Regarding 1), this allows Single Op stations to "look" at the Internet.  I 
> have never understood why there were so many (silly) restrictions on the 
> Single Op stations.  I once posted that the ARRL rules discriminate 
> against the Single Op stations...and many folks agreed with me.  Many 
> Single Ops use the Internet now, but of course, no one can prove it one 
> way or the other.  Removing this prohibition will put everyone on the same 
> page as far as looking at the Internet is concerned.
>
> Regarding 2), this rule is of the utmost importance.  Currently, the CQ WW 
> VHF contests allow stations using digital MS or digital EME to "self post" 
> their Call, Frequency, and Sequence ONLY.  It is no coincidence that the 
> CQ WW VHF contest is the best contest that we have.  I know that the HF 
> Philosophy types are having heart palpitations, but they don't operate VHF 
> contests.  In any HF contest, you can find a never ending stream of 
> stations to work.  That is most certainly not the case in the VHF affairs.
>
> Self posting, i.e. Announcements, will allow stations to find each other 
> during the contests. Rovers would be able to let the big stations know 
> where they were and when they were ready to run.  Stations searching for 
> MS contacts or EME contacts will be able to find others using the same 
> methods.  Most especially, the smaller stations will be able to find the 
> "big guns" if they know where to look. That means more QSOs for everyone.
>
> Regarding 3), I originally saw this as just removing another silly 
> restriction from the Single Ops.  Jay's comments have caused me to 
> re-think this one.  I am and always have been a Multi Op station, so for 
> me, transmitting on multiple bands at once is just normal.  What Jay is 
> saying is that this might / will give the stations in the "Golden 
> Crescent" another unfair advantage over the Single Ops in the rest of the 
> country(Jay...I hope I restated that correctly).
>
> However, I have run into Single Ops that use SO2R techniques to call CQ 
> alternatively on 6M and 2M in such a way that they are never transmitting 
> on two bands at the same time.  They call it "dueling CQs".  The effect of 
> this is that they ARE ON two bands at the same time without ever 
> transmitting on two bands at the same time.  This is clearly just a 
> technological solution to skirt around the current rule.  On the other 
> hand, I don't know of anyone around here that is doing this, so maybe this 
> practice is not widespread.
>
> Hence, I am neutral on 3).  I am waiting to be re-educated on this one. 
> Please try to keep the comments relatively civil....
>
> The Committee also did some nice house cleaning on the FM side of things. 
> They propose removing the restriction on 146.52 and on use of repeaters to 
> solicit contacts.  The contacts must still be made on simplex frequencies. 
> This will not help me personally, as there is essentially no FM activity 
> around here for me to work.  But it may help others.  Unfortunately, there 
> is the distinct possibility that this may only give another advantage to 
> the NE stations where there are a lot more stations close by, many of them 
> little FM stations.  I agree that the NE stations do not need any more 
> advantages over the rest of us.....
>
> As always, your comments are of interest to me, Pro or Con.  Flames, 
> diatribes, etc. will go directly to the bit bucket....they will not pass 
> GO and will not collect $200.  Respectful, well thought out comments will 
> not collect $200 either, but that is another story.....
>
> The best of Holiday Seasons to everyone....
>
> 73 Marshall K5QE
>
>
> On 12/5/2014 6:12 PM, Keith Morehouse wrote:
>> If you don't live on the east coast and want to top 10 in a VHF contest
>> someday, I would urge you to think long and hard about adopting this 
>> rule...
>>
>> Jay W9RM
>>
>> Keith J Morehouse
>> via Droid Inc2
>> On Dec 5, 2014 4:29 PM, "James Duffey" <jamesduffey at comcast.net> wrote:
>>
>>> If you have comments on the proposed rules changes for VHF/UHF contests,
>>> they are due December 15 to the committee at < vhf-input at arrl.org >.
>>>
>>> I personally am not going to campaign here for any of the rules changes,
>>> except for the one allowing single op stations to have multiple signals 
>>> on
>>> different bands at the same time without being in the multi category. I
>>> think that this will increase activity as it will increase signals on 
>>> the
>>> air, so someone who tunes to the bands during a contest is more likely 
>>> to
>>> hear activity. This should also help with the problem of people ignoring
>>> the higher bands when 6M is open by encouraging ops to use SO2R 
>>> techniques.
>>> If 6M is open, the single op can still CQ on two at the same time, and
>>> pickup stations calling there. I don’t see any down side to this 
>>> proposed
>>> change, and I encourage you to comment favorably on this proposed rules
>>> change.
>>>
>>> In the past there has been a lot of discussion here, and elsewhere, on
>>> assistance in VHF/UHF contests, and I hope that those who have been 
>>> vocal
>>> on both sides of that issue have made or will make their input to the
>>> committee known. The proposed rules are very liberal with respect to
>>> assistance, even with respect to the CQ WW VHF contest rules, so I
>>> encourage you to read the proposed changes and ponder their consequences
>>> for you and others. Then make constructive comments on the proposals.
>>>
>>> The proposed rules allow self spotting pretty much in all categories and
>>> pretty through all vehicles. This is a big change with potentially big
>>> consequences, so I encourage you to comment on this as well. Consider 
>>> that
>>> self spotting is not thought of well by most of the HF contesters and 
>>> those
>>> are some of the new activity that the committee is trying to attract.
>>>
>>> Read and study the proposed rules changes. Make your concerns and 
>>> desires
>>> known to the committee now. Don’t pass on this opportunity. If rules are
>>> adapted that you don’t like and you didn’t comment on them to the rule
>>> makers, then it will be hard to seriously take your criticism of them
>>> later. Just saying. - Duffey KK6MC
>>> --
>>> KK6MC
>>> James Duffey
>>> Cedar Crest NM
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>
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