On Feb 26, 2009, at 9:14 PM, James Duffey wrote:
> 4. HF contesting is growing, but VHF contesting has stagnated.
When was the last time you saw a major radio manufacturer offer up
rigs and marketing "sponsorship" as well as devote pages of their
advertising to VHF+ contesting? They ALL support contesting and
DX'ing, and pay BIG BUCKS to teams of people who can work together to
do things like the Descheo Island DX-Pedition, etc... we've all seen
the hats, logo shirts, stage time, etc... for HF contesting teams and
DX-Pedition teams at Dayton.
They currently have few rigs capable of VHF+ contesting out-of-the-
box, and have little incentive to support such operations.
NONE of those rigs that DO have the ability (just barely) to do just
VHF/UHF are the "high revenue" rigs the HF folks enjoy if they can
afford them.
This is PART (but of course, not all) of why VHF contesting isn't as
widely known or recognized by the Amateur community at large. It's
simply not as easy as heading over to the local ham store and buying
gear to participate in the Microwaves.
And I'm not complaining about this really, I'm just pointing it out.
> 8. Despite the proliferation of DC to Daylight rigs among the general
> population, participation in VHF contests has stagnated in the same
> period.
Again, how often do you hear manufacturers touting their rigs VHF/UHF
"prowess" or sponsoring VHF+ teams and showing off their scores in
advertising?
> 10. VHF awards are not closely tied to contest participation as they
> are on HF because the VUCC awards are not part of LOTW. And it appears
> they will not be made part of it in the future.
AMEN.
Good stuff, Duff.
Nate WY0X
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