[NLRS] ARRL VHF+ contest proposals: input invited
Bruce Richardson
[email protected]
Fri, 20 Feb 2004 15:57:40 -0600
Holy Cow! It watered my eyes! I never thought I'd live to
see the day that reasonableness (possibly) reigned!
On first blush, this "return to the original rover rules"
scares some that huge scores will result. Well, the
motivator to go activate "one more grid" for the opportunity
to get "several more grids" is huge. One doesn't even need
to work their own grid out in the sticks to still be
competitive. I love the idea of keeping rover scores out of
club scores--rovers have already benefitted club scores
once. I was a little surprised by the idea of working a
rover only counts for one point. Again, at first thought,
it seems to cheapen the effort. But on second thought it
keeps the reward ratio "just about right" so that rather
than love a bunch of close in rovers, fixed stations would
LOVE a bunch of far out rovers--not for the Qpts but for the
grids.
These rule changes would really help us here in the sticks
where we don't have ham density in all the grids within our
VHF range.
I REALLY liked the idea of making June 50-1296. Why have
three contests SO similar? I think it's a great idea.
The only SAD ommission is an FM only category. Sure, I know
it's just a mode, but it represents a huge universe of
operators. Categories attempt to keep level playing fields
within certain broad types. Well a three band FM only can't
really compete against the three band NarrowBand guy.
All in all, I'm pleased and hope it ends up somewhere close
to this. My fear is that it won't. But what a joy to read!
Now, after a few days of discussion, we need to forward up
the chain our well thought out comments.
Bruce Richardson - W9FZ
FAC33 "Ceremony" b/w "In a Lonely Place"--Groove notations:
"This is Why Events Unnerve Me" and "How I Wish We Were Here
With You Now"
> -----Original Message-----
> From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]]
> Sent: Friday, February 20, 2004 2:58 PM
> To: [email protected]
> Subject: [NLRS] ARRL VHF+ contest proposals: input invited
>
>
> Even though some of you have already seen this, I thought
> it would be of interest to everyone who operates in the
> VHF and up contests.
>
> 73, Gary WB0LJC
> --------- Begin forwarded message ----------
> From: Tom Frenaye <[email protected]>
> To: [email protected]
> Subject: [VHF] ARRL VHF+ contest proposals: input invited
> Date: Fri, 20 Feb 2004 14:16:54 -0500
>
>
> To VHF+ contesters:
>
> For the last year or so the ARRL has been
> studying ways to increase
> interest and participation in VHF+ contests (and
> awards). It was a good
> sign that participation was up in last June's VHF
> QSO Party, and we're
> looking to encourage more participation,
> especially those who have
> multi-band transceivers.
>
> Our recommendations had several basic goals.
> Changes to the contest
> rules and awards programs should:
> 1) encourage more people to work more other people
> 2) encourage QSOs made over longer distances
> 3) encourage more people to join in and participate
>
> Major recommendations
> 1) Changes in the rover rules
> 2) QSO point changes
> 3) June VHF QSO Party 50-1296 only
> 4) New categories in Jan/Jun/Sept
> 5) Expanded Microwave contest based on 10
> GHz Cumulative - UHF
> contest dropped.
>
> These major recommendations, and a number of
> minor ones, are still just
> recommendations. We felt it would be important
> to have further input
> from the VHF+ contest community at this point.
>
> After you've had a chance to read through and
> think about the proposed
> changes, we'd like to hear from you. Please
> send any comments to
> [email protected] - we'd like to have
> your input by March
> 7th.
>
>
> January VHF SS and June/September VHF QSO Parties
> --------------------------------------------------
> --------------------------------
>
> 1) Change Rover Rules
>
> After considerable discussion about the impact of
> the present rover rules
> and comments from both rovers and non-rovers, we
> have recommended
> reverting to the rover scoring rules originally
> established in 1991. The
> text of the original rule is "The final score
> consists of the total
> number of QSO points from all bands times the
> total number of multipliers
> from all grid squares in which they operated."
> This change would
> encourage rovers to go to rarer and more distant
> grids instead of staying
> closer to metropolitan areas.
>
> Because rover scores can be so large under the
> original rover scoring
> rules, they can distort the club competition
> scores. To solve this major
> problem with the original rules, we propose that
> rover station scores
> should not be counted towards club competition
> scores. Rovers would
> continue to contribute substantially to
> increasing the scores of club
> members by providing numerous QSO points and
> activating new grids.
>
> Finally, we believe it is time to be more
> definitive and state
> unequivocally that grid circling and captive
> roving are highly
> undesirable practices and that no rover station
> should engage in them. We
> recognize that due to the great disparities in
> population and geography,
> hard and fast analytical tests for these
> activities may not be possible
> but both these practices are well understood.
>
> Grid circling has been observed quite clearly
> under both the original and
> present rover rules two or more rovers
> congregate at the intersection of
> four grid squares and then circle each other
> around that corner making
> short distance QSOs with each other. Operating
> practices that look like
> grid circling are easy to detect and will result
> in review of the log by
> the contest managers.
>
> The term "captive rover" refers to stations whose
> primary activity is to
> increase the score of one fixed station either
> single operator or
> multi-operator, and who never, or seldom, work
> anyone else in the
> contest. These may or may not be people who are
> part of the same team or
> group. Again, this is easy to detect during the
> log checking process and
> will attract the attention of the contest manager.
>
> 2) QSO Point changes
>
> The current rules provide for increasing QSO
> points as contacts are made
> on higher bands plus additional multipliers on
> each band for each new
> grid. We propose to change the values for QSO
> points for all three
> contests. Regardless of band you would receive
> two points for QSOs with
> your own grid and any adjacent grid, and three
> points for each QSO beyond
> that. QSOs with rover stations would count one
> QSO point each, regardless
> of distance.
>
> This change would reward those who can make more
> distant QSOs, and it
> would make a volume of short range microwave QSOs
> somewhat less critical
> to the final score although microwave grid
> multipliers would still be
> crucial to an all band entry. It would also tend
> to make QSOs with
> casual participants and newcomers more appealing
> than constantly running
> from band to band.
>
> 3) June VHF QSO Party 50-1296 MHz only
>
> It seemed to us that at least one of the "big
> three" VHF+ contests ought
> to emphasize the VHF bands. We thus recommend
> that the June VHF QSO Party
> be limited to 50-1296 MHz only. June is often
> the time for sporadic E
> openings on 6 meters - as was the case in 2003.
> We would discontinue the
> Limited Multi category in the June VHF QSO Party only.
>
> 4) New categories in Jan/Jun/Sept
>
> Getting started in VHF+ contesting can be a bit
> daunting, and we wanted
> to find ways to attract the many people who have
> purchased multi-band
> transceivers that include VHF bands like the
> IC-706 and others.
>
> We recommend the establishment of a new Limited
> Single Operator category
> designed with the newcomer in mind - 50-144-432
> MHz only, with low power
> operation only. For those who are "real estate
> challenged" because of
> antenna restrictions or topography, we also
> recommend a new 6-hour QRP
> Hilltopper category. This latter category should
> also be appealing to
> QRPers with radios like the FT817, one of the
> more rapidly growing
> segments in Amateur Radio.
>
> 5) Other recommended changes (Jan/Jun/Sept)
>
> a) Simplify the limit for low power
> operation to 150w for
> 50-144-222-432 MHz.
> b) Allow DX-to-DX contacts for QSO point and
> multiplier credit, but
> the DX station must make at least one QSO
> with W/VE on each band for which
> QSOs are submitted.
> c) Eliminate the rules that allow
> Multi-Operator stations to work
> their own operators on 2.3G and up.
> d) Offer plaques for the January and
> September contests, in addition
> to June. Work to find individual, club or corporate
> sponsors. Otherwise offer plaques
> to national and regional
> leaders at cost.
> e) Make sure the rules indicate certificates
> are awarded for low
> power entries in January, and for top DX entries.
> f) Resume promoting suggested times and
> frequencies for "activity
> hours" on each band.
>
>
> New Microwave contest based on 10 GHz Cumulative
> - UHF contest dropped
> --------------------------------------------------
> --------------------------------------------
>
> We recommend expanding the format of the
> successful 10G and Up microwave
> contest and expand it to cover from 2.3 GHz and
> up. The August UHF
> Contest would be discontinued after 2004. It
> never reached a critical
> mass of support and entries.
>
> 1) Add one more weekend in April or May to
> the existing two-weekend
> cumulative contest.
> 2) Include 2.3G, 3.4G and 5.7G bands.
> 3) Have four basic categories -
> 2.4/3.4/5.7G, 10G only, 10G and up,
> and all band (2.4G and up). Each major category would
> include portable and home-based categories.
> 4) Perhaps call them the X-band contests to
> increase interest.
>
>
> EME Contest
> -----------------
>
> 1) The Contest department should work to
> establish the dates for the
> EME contest weekends as early as possible,
> and include them with the contest
> calendar as the yearly
> summary is released.
> 2) Change the multiplier to include US
> states and Canadian provinces
> instead of call areas. The report remains the
> signal report.
> 3) Drop the requirement that stations
> operating outside of their
> traditional call area sign with a portable designation.
>
>
> Changes Already Implemented
> -------------------------------------
>
> 1) Allow digital QSOs in the EME contest.
> Implemented for 2003
> contest.
> 2) Work to establish an Internet template
> for entry of small and
> medium sized logs. Implemented in January 2004.
> 3) Add a club competition to the June VHF
> QSO Party. Implemented
> for 2003 contest.
> 4) Work to find good authors and to
> encourage more regional
> reporting of VHF+ contest results. This had been
> in place for more
> than a year now. Staff is working
> hard to identify
> authors and would welcome volunteers,
> particularly experienced contesters
> 5) Encourage Logbook of The World
> development to be supportive of
> VHF+ awards, like the VUCC. Implemented in
> September 2003.
> 6) Encourage more activity by developing a
> high-quality grid square
> map of the United States. A very nice laminated,
> color grid
> square map covering North America
> was released in June
> 2003.
>
>
> Awards
> ----------
>
> 1) Change the entry-level steps for VHF+
> awards so more people will
> be able to get started in the VUCC, WAS and DXCC
> using VHF+ frequencies. Consider
> changing the steps for
> different level awards to a smaller increment.
> 2) Establish a VUCC challenge-type award,
> similar to the one used by
> DXCC.
> 3) Create a new award or awards to appeal to
> entry-level or
> rover/portable operation, such as a grids
> activated or miles per
> watt award. Consider GCR
> certification rather than card
> checking.
> 4) For VUCC awards on 50 through 1296 MHz
> and Satellite, all
> contacts must be made from a location or
> locations within the
> same grid locator or locations in
> different grid locators
> no more than 200 kilometers apart [the
> approximate distance between
> the corners of a grid square].
> (Currently they have to be
> made from the same grid square or from distances
> no more than
> 50 miles apart.)
>
>
> How we got here
> ---------------------
>
> The number of logs submitted to ARRL VHF+
> contests has been decreasing
> for several years and the perception is that
> activity is not increasing
> in spite of the advent of commercial HF/VHF/UHF
> radios. After a number
> of discussions, ARRL Board members voted (January
> 2002) to have the
> Membership Services Committee review the existing
> VHF, UHF, and Microwave
> contest and awards programs and make
> recommendations on ways to increase
> interest and participation. The MSC established
> a subcommittee of K1KI
> N0AX W5ZN and N7NG.
>
> The early work included a survey in September
> 2002. The survey, intended
> as a way to gather ideas, not to measure exact
> opinion on issues, was a
> great success. Some 250 people provide valuable
> input. Initially, the
> subcommittee produced recommended changes for the
> VHF+ awards. That
> progress report was given at the January 2003
> meeting of the MSC.
>
> At this point, to increase the expertise relating
> to the VHF+ contests it
> was recommended that the MSC-VHF subcommittee be
> expanded to include
> several knowledgeable VHF+ contesters. The
> subcommittee was expanded
> (K1JX K2UA W3ZZ AA7A KM0T and N1ND were added)
> and started work in April.
> Over the past several months the original
> discussions were reviewed and
> new ideas culled from discussions with friends,
> from the major VHF+
> reflectors and from participating in on the air
> contest activity lead to
> modifications and new recommendations. The
> recommendations detailed
> above are the result of this process.
>
> Again, we'd like to hear from you about the
> proposed changes. Please
> send any comments to
> [email protected] - we'd like to have
> your input by March 7th.
>
> -- Tom Frenaye/K1KI
>
> MSC VHF-UHF Contest and Awards Subcommittee
>
> Tom Frenaye, K1KI, chairman
> Clarke Green, K1JX
> Joel Harrison, W5ZN
> Rus Healy, K2UA* (Atlantic Division Contest
> Advisory Committee member)
> Mike King, KM0T
> Wayne Mills, N7NG (Membership Services
> Department manager)
> Ward Silver, N0AX (Northwest Division CAC member)
> Ned Stearn, AA7A (Southwest Division CAC member)
> Gene Zimmerman, W3ZZ (also QST VHF column editor)
> Dan Henderson, N1ND (Contest Department manager)
> * unable to participate for the last few months
>
> =====
> e-mail: [email protected] ARRL New England Division
> Director
> http://www.arrl.org/
> Tom Frenaye, K1KI, P O Box J, West Suffield CT
> 06093 Phone: 860-668-5444
>
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--------- End forwarded message ----------
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