[NLRS] Question on use of 144.200

[Donn Baker]

Hi Jon,
Since you asked....
No, there is no reason to change the rules.

What "problem" does this solve ?  Why is it being put forth ?

1) The "need" for reserving 144.200 as an Emergency Calling channel does
not exist.  If the need arises, an emergency call on .200, with or without
a contest will be effective... and maybe MORE effective during a contest !  

(For that matter, the "need" to keep .52 open for Emergency use, if no
longer valid, is certainly not as important as it once was.  That
restriction dates to the days of crystal channel control, and maybe 3 to 6
crystals in a radio.  EVERYBODY had .52, the "local repeater frequency,"
plus one or two of the "national" repeater frequencies such as .34/.94,
.28/88, and .16/76. It made perfect sense to reserve the National (FM)
Calling Frequency for Emergency use during a contest.  With todays
synthesized radios, this is no longer true.  Besides, you could call your
heart out on .52 during a contest (or any other time, for that matter), and
no one would hear you.  Obviously, the best thing to do is use the Repeater
!!  More than enough non-contesters are on the repeater(s) that its a FAR
better option for emergency use than the National (FM) Calling Frequency.
Besides, Repeaters are not allowed during contests, and so are always
available without special rules.)

2) Operation on .200 maskes the DX station.  Yeah, so what ?  
a) How "wide" do you want to make the "hole ?" 5 KHz, 10KHz, 20 KHz ? There
will always be someone who operates within 5 (or 10) KHz of .200, and
either overloads or splatters across the frequency.  Little or no improvement.

b) If you can't operate on .200 during a Contest, why would anyone operate
on .200 during a Contest ?  Since no one's there, you won't look there
yourself.  The window sits "empty" and goes unused.  Why waste the spectrum ?

3) Its a major change that will confuse people for no advantage.

Again, what problem would this solve ?  I cannot think of a single thing.

73 Donn WA2VOI/0 
EN35ja (Sometimes /R)


At 14:09 18-06-06 EDT, W0ZQ at aol.com wrote:
>
>
>Hello NLRS land.   

 The question is this - Is there  a rationale to change the VHF/UHF contest
rules to not allow the  use of 144.200 during ARRL contests ?  If 
>not a rule change,  what about other action such as a FAQ page on using the 
>calling frequency or a  page on best practices for contest operations ?
>