[SFDXA] ARRL Board Okays Changes to DXCC Program, VHF and Above Contesting Rules

[Bill]

    ARRL Board Okays Changes to DXCC Program, VHF and Above Contesting Rules

01/21/2015

The ARRL Board of Directors has tweaked the DX Century Club (*DXCC* 
<http://www.arrl.org/dxcc-rules>) rules to clarify and expand their 
recognition of remotely controlled station technology. It also has added 
a rule that puts greater ethical responsibility on operators with 
respect to remotely controlled operation. In addition, the Board adopted 
changes to the ARRL VHF/UHF contest rules that are aimed at encouraging 
greater participation. The Board took the actions during its annual 
meeting January 16-17 in Windsor, Connecticut.

The *DXCC Rules* <http://www.arrl.org/dxcc-rules> changes, which affect 
Section I, subsections 8 and 9, explain and extend how contacts with 
remotely controlled stations now may be applied toward the DXCC award. 
According to ARRL CEO David Sumner, K1ZZ, the changes are subtle but 
significant. The modified rules make clear that contacts with legally 
licensed, land-based, remotely controlled stations count for DXCC, but 
the control point — the operator’s location — of a remotely controlled 
station no longer has to be land based; the operator can be literally 
anywhere.

“It has always been permitted for a QSO to count for both stations, if 
either station was operated remotely from a control point within the 
same DXCC entity,” Sumner explained. “Now the location of the operator 
doesn’t matter; the operator could be on the far side of the Moon if he 
or she could figure out how to remotely control a station on land back 
on Earth from there.” Transmitter location continues to define a 
station’s location, and, for DXCC purposes, all transmitters and 
receivers must be located within a 500 meter diameter circle, excluding 
antennas.

Under the old rules, if either station was operated from a control point 
in /another/ DXCC entity, the contact did not count for DXCC for 
/either/ station. “This was unenforceable unless someone was transparent 
about what they were doing,” Sumner said.

The Board further adopted a new rule, now Subsection 11 (subsequent 
rules will be renumbered accordingly), that acknowledges the reality of 
the technology enabling remote operation, and it puts greater 
responsibility on individuals when it comes to applying that technology 
ethically and responsibly.

“Issues concerning remotely controlled operating and DXCC are best dealt 
with by each individual carefully considering the ethical limits that 
he/she will accept for his/her DXCC and other operating awards,” the new 
rule states. It adds, in part, “the owner of these achievements needs to 
be comfortable standing behind his/her award and numbers. Peer attention 
has always been a part of awards chasing, of course, but in these times 
with so many awards and so many players, it is more important than ever 
to ‘play the game ethically.’”

Subsection 11 acknowledges that technological advances “add to the 
difficulty in defining rules for DXCC,” but stresses that the intent of 
the rules is what’s important. “It will continue to be up to the 
operator to decide what types of legal remote control operating he/she 
will use (if any) to contribute to an operating award,” the new rule 
concludes.

The Board also adopted amendments to the */General Rules for ARRL 
Contests Above 50 MHz 
<http://www.arrl.org/general-rules-for-arrl-contests-above-50-mhz>/* to 
encourage greater participation and band utilization. The changes become 
effective with the *2015 June ARRL VHF Contest* 
<http://www.arrl.org/june-vhf>. The revisions stemmed from 
recommendations offered by the Board’s Programs and Services Committee’s 
ad-hoc VHF and Above Revitalization subcommittee, composed of active 
VHF/UHF contesters, and they received strong support from the VHF/UHF 
community.

The subcommittee was charged with developing recommendations to increase 
the level and breadth of ARRL VHF and above contest participation and 
encourage operation on lesser-used bands. As a start to the process, the 
Board approved three changes that will permit assistance for all 
operator categories, with no effect on entry category; permit 
self-spotting for all operator categories, and allow single operators to 
transmit on more than one band at a time.

The changes will permit assistance in arranging contacts, but not in 
conducting contacts. They will, for example, allow a station to announce 
its location in a chat room, on a repeater, or even via e-mail.

In other actions, the Board instructed the HF Band Planning Committee — 
which soon will solicit members’ comments on proposed changes to the 
ARRL HF Band Plans — to include the possibility of requesting that the 
FCC add RTTY and data privileges for Novices and Technicians on 15 meters.