[PVRCNC] W1AW/4 guidelines

[Howard Hoyt]

Anyone who has signed up to use c/s W1AW/4, here are some guidelines from
HQ:

GE Leaders



All is going well.  We have scheduled all the stateside operations – FB.
They are shown below.



Those who are running the first couple weeks of January, we should shoot
for having your lists of transmitting stations by the first week of
December and we will issue the authorization letters.



To refresh, we need a detail of each operation, approximately one month
before the operation, that shows where and when the W1AW/ call will be
used, and who the contact is at that time.  If the contact is Leader and
not the host, that is OK too.  The clock starts at 00Z on Weds, and ends at
2359Z on the following Tuesday.



I also want to stress that while it is great to be as active as you/we can
or want, if something happens and some part of an operation doesn’t come
off, it’s not a big deal.  In other words, you don’t have to kill yourself
to cover some time that goes unused here and there.   We really do believe
that the activity is going to be high and there will be lots and lots of
stations around the world chasing QSOs with W1AW, but I don’t think anyone
expects there to be 6 or more stations going around the clock – somewhere
in between the massive DXpedition and being active every day on most bands
is where we will mostly end up.



Most important though, is that we have stress how important it is that
there be no abuses or intentionally bad operating using W1AW.  We think
it’s important that the leader, if he uses stations and ops that aren’t
very well known to him, that he give a little coaching and guidance.  Make
sure band edges are far avoided.  Make sure not to QRM nets or DXpeditions,
or commonly used gathering frequencies – basic stuff, but ideas that may
not be well known if the operation is spread widely.  New operators will
enjoy this opportunity with coaching, but it probably isn’t a good idea to
turn a brand new operator loose for 12 hours on his/her own struggling with
giant pile-ups and the resultant backlash that will be inevitable.



For some operations and portions thereof, it may be perfectly appropriate
to log by hand – in fact, on some VHF/UHF bands where not too many contacts
are likely, a paper log will largely reduce stress and computer issues.
Log data can be transcribed later, and we can help with that.



For sure N1MM and CT WIN can handle logging for DXpedition-style work.  Any
other software that can be used to log all the bands is welcome.  Feel free
to share ideas here.



73 for now



Dave, NN1N


73, Howie
http://n4af.net