Yes Chuck, Those are all great ideas. You are definitely on the right
track. I especially like the 1/2 point for stations only heard on CW. I
already have my strategy planned out to maximize my CW hearing ability.
I will drink two bottles of cheap whiskey 20 minutes before the contest
and then down a pint every hour up until 02:00 UT on Sunday night. The
good thing is that I do not need to drink anything after 02:00 UT. That
is a good bonus. AS for the 10 CQs with no answer, I have that covered
as well. I modified my CQ message so that it never stops. That way I'll
never get an answer and will build up more points.
I entered my first VHF contest in 1962. I was a tech licensee and, while
I did pass the 5 WPM code test, i was ignorant of CW. I was happy with
my 8 watts on 144 MHz AM phone. Working Charlie, W3IBH in Philadelphia
during the contest was a real treat for me. That was DX. (Does anyone
else remember Charlie? He worked in landscaping and liked a beer when he
got home from a long day. ) There were two entry classes: Single Op,
and Multi Op. When the scoring was published, I was way down near the
bottom in the Connecticut section. I only had one band and my receiver
was a 6BQ7A cascode converter and aWW2 Bendix surplus aircraft receiver
as an IF. The dial was graduated every 50 kHz. The only way for me to go
was up. I figured that to get ahead, I needed better gear and more
bands. In short order, I dumped the surplus receiver for an old HRO,
then a mil version of the AR-88 RCA receiver. It was a big change. I
built up an 829B amp for 144, a six meter station, a KW on 144 and many
many amps followed. Sure that was a different time. To get a better
score, you had to do things! Now we add categories.
Fast forward to today. I just worked WA3EOQ on 222 MHz last night. Big
deal right? Well, it was a big deal. I was aimed at the Moon as it
rose, and I actually copied his 85 watts of RF bouncing off the Moon
from Western Maryland, and into my receiver. That works out to about
8540 km per each of his watts. So I was discussing this remarkable feat
with my wife and asked if a young kid today would be excited to hear of
this. She said "NO, they are too busy looking at their phone." There
lies the problem. Time is a precious commodity now and TIC TOC,
FACEBOOK, and a million other for profit providers are constantly
filling up kids minds with mush. The consumers are totally consumed
with it with plenty left over that they cannot even address. We are all
on sensory overload. The real world suffers as a result. Hell, we can't
even cook dinner anymore and we have to contract out with Door Dash to
pick it up. We are just too busy with everything! Forgive my dark
answer, but I believe that we are all screwed.
Thanks for the great note!
Dave K1WHS (Who still has a WW2 Bendix aircraft receiver)
On 9/20/2024 11:56 AM, chetsubaccount@snet.net wrote:
Hi Dave,
Perhaps we are looking at the contest woes all wrong. Since the expansion of
the rules to 14 pages seems to have demotivated VHFers, maybe there are just
not enough rules and regs yet, so I propose more changes to expand the breadth
of diversity and inclusion. Here goes:
Scoring- count a quarter point for every station heard but not worked. If that
station was on CW, make it a half point. This will lower boredom during slow
times and encourage timid newbies and SWLs to participate.
Make a scoring choice subcategory that leaves it up to the participant to
choose classic or anti-digi, and texts and chat room assistance or not.
Encourage CQing. Score one point for every 10 CQ’s in a row without an answer.
Bonus points that can be claimed if you fixed something or improved your
station since the last contest. Suggestions for the list are welcome.
Personalized category overlays. You can create your own when submitting your log. For
example, “single op, low power. Windows 10, Middlesex county, 5 antennas or
less”! Wow, I am sure to win a printable certificate now. Everyone will be happy.
Any others?
73,
Chet, N8RA
-----Original Message-----
From: VHFcontesting
<vhfcontesting-bounces+chetsubaccount=snet.net@contesting.com> On Behalf Of
David Olean
Sent: Wednesday, September 18, 2024 7:12 PM
To: NEWSVHF@mailman.qth.net; vhfcontesting@contesting.com
Subject: [VHFcontesting] The 222 MHz Fall Sprint K1WHS Summary
Hi 222 Fanatics,
I just participated in the Fall 222 MHz Sprint for four hours, and actually
exceeded my 222 MHz score for the entire ARRL September QSO Party that takes
place over a 33 hour period. There was no difference in band conditions. Both
the weekend and this past Tuesday night had typical conditions with no
enhancements out of the immediate area. It was a good comparison, so why did I
do better in four hours vs the 33 hours that were available to me in the ARRL
contest? I think it demonstrates that we have serious problems in the
implementation of the ARRL contest. Between switching between all the bands,
we also have switching between frequencies in the analog vs digital realm.
Throw in all of the categories available now and things really get interesting.
Gee, I can enter this category with four bands, or these categories with three bands
needed. What should I do this time? I have never been in favor of adding new
entry categories. I call it the Balkanization of VHF contesting. All of these rule
changes have brought us to the point where experienced VHF ops do not even want to
participate anymore. I can cite one anecdotal example right in my back yard. I have
a 100 ft tower with four big seven element yagis all mounted on TIC Rings. They are
fed with four phase matched lengths of 7/8" heliax feedlines with a phase
switching matrix indoors that can control beam patterns and elevation angles. There
is a nice 3CX3000A7 single band amplifier that can supply 1500 watts of RF in an
almost Class A arrangement. It all has sat idle for a few years. The reason is that
the June and September contests are not fun for anyone who has been brought up in a
contesting environment. No one wants to operate it anymore. I am thinking of
giving the entire setup away. One of the reasons that SSB and CW activity has
diminished in contests is because the contests do not bring excitement or fun into
the equation like they used to. VHF is hard enough with poor conditions. Most HF
contesters do not see the point of being there with a 12 per hour rate. Anything
below 100 per hour tends to incite boredom. Experienced VHF ops are a bit more stoic
I think! By reducing the FUN factor of VHF contesting, now the experienced VHF ops
are sitting out those weekends. THEY ARE BORED.
Activity breeds activity. I believe that an entire new regimen is needed to
bring the contests back in popularity. It is not an easy task as the pool of
operators has shrunk as old and experienced VHFers pass on. No one takes their
place. That also has to change or we are doomed. K1PXE had a good take on that
problem. We need younger hams interested in VHF.
I ended up with 50 QSOs in 23 grids. I almost had 24 grids as I came awful
close to completing a meteor scatter QSO with K9MRI at the end of the evening.
Joe needed only a final RR from me, but it did not happen.
I figure that another two or three minutes and it would have worked. Other good
QSOs were made with the same folks who can always be worked on CW at the
extreme distances. VE3ZV EN92 752 km 55 on SSB, W8ZN FM09
785 km 539 CW, WA3EOQ FM09 805 km (very weak on CW) I had some good results
with the rising Moon. It rose at 23:00 in Maine and was coming up across the
country as the Sprint went along. I caught W5EME with his single yagi in
Louisiana and EM32 on his Moonrise. That was easy. He was actually quite loud!
WQ5S also heard me well in EM13, but I was not hearing him. Other contacts
were made with W7JW and K3SK in EN82 and FM07. I did not experience any
enhancement out to the West. The RI and Cape Cod stations were quite loud, but
no other good conditions arose for us here in the Northlands.
A look at the missed grids is very disappointing. To my NE I only nabbed
FN54 and 53 with K1DY and K1HC. To my SW I missed FN24, FN23, FN21, FN15,FN14,
FN11, FN10, FN02, FN01, FN00, & FM28 among others. Throw in the empty grids to
my NE and there were about 30+ grids easily available with any station who would go
there. I am hoping to help improve things by sending a complete 222 MHz station to
some deserving VE1 amateur. The problem is that no one wants it up there. I am
still looking.
How about a contest with FT8 allowed but worth 25% of a SSB or CW contact. That
would make FT8 good for adding grids but terrible for adding QSOs. All regular
activity would be on voice. Some elusive DX could be FT8. Then throw in
activity periods that will discourage running the bands. I am not sure how to
implement that, but a complete re write of rules seems necessary. Some HF
contests limit band changes.
A similar rule could be employed in VHF contests. Say that once you make a band
change, you have to stay on that band for one or two hours. Such a rule would
apply to single operators and not multi operators or Rovers. Such a rule
change would discourage running the bands. It would also make having activity
hours a viable way to achieve a maximum contact rate and make things exciting
in areas with some activity..
Remember that there are 33 hours available. Software would be required to check the
logs. Remember that areas of the country with almost no activity get their bread
buttered by having rovers trying to cover as many grids as is humanly possible. They all
work the same few stations in a Bazillion grids. It is called "Run 'N Gun".
Rovers would have to be able to contact single op stations on all their bands in a short
time, so they can move on to their next spot. It does get complicated. One problem is
determining who is a multi muti and who is a single op. Rovers all sign /R so that can be
determined. Do multis become /M?
Anyway this is all food for thought and off the top of my head. One problem in
the June contest is that no one would get off 50 MHz in hopes that it might
open up. More thought is needed.
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