[Laser] Changes to ARRL VHF contest rules

[Tim Toast]

hi James and all

>From that little bit of info, it sounds like they are going to 
declare LEDs to be monochromatic sources (like lasers). To me, 
this sounds like they are going to clarify "coherent" to mean 
"monochromatic" and, by including LEDs in the description, 
further define "monochromatic" as being about 50 nm spectral 
bandwidth or less. 

I don't see any problem with that by itself, but the low power 
restriction is kind of strange...that's new isn't it? It seems to put an unfair burden on LEDs and lasers. As long as there are not any eye-safety issues, why have a power limit so low? I hope that is some sort of "per square cm" thing and not a blanket "output" power.



--- On Tue, 7/20/10, laser-request at mailman.qth.net <laser-request at mailman.qth.net> wrote:
> 
> Message: 1
> Date: Mon, 19 Jul 2010 14:52:48 -0500
> From: "James Whitfield" <n5gui at cox.net>
> Subject: [Laser] Changes to ARRL VHF contest rules
> 
> Posted on the ARRL website this afternoon is an item about
> the ARRL Board of Directors meeting.  The details were
> not provided and are expected to be in a more in depth
> report in a few days along with the official minutes.
> 
> The specific item that I thought might be of interest here
> reads:
> 
> "  ... clarified the VHF rules to allow
> monochromatic  sources ( such as laser or LED ) to
> count for contest credit, as long as the laser power is less
> than 5 mW; ...  "
> 
> 
> I for one, am interested to see what the details are and
> what this will mean as far as encouraging more
> experimentation and activity in the optical realm.
> 
> 
> Best wishes.
> 
> 
> James
>  n5gui
>