Ken N4UK wrote:
>
> Field day strayed away from the basic premise of
> emergency communications on a dime and became just another
> contest long ago. This is why I and many others I know, won't
> get in on it. Field Day need a major overhaul!
> It has become a joke...
> 73 Ken n4uk
Ken,
You're wrong.
How many of the qsos were made with operations in the 20A category?
Maybe 3. How many were 1A or 1B (like me)? Most. Certainly not less
than 50 percent were 3A or less.
I have been doing FD for nearly 20 years with the same modus operandi.
The only thing that has changed is I set up a VHF station and solicit a
few qsos on packet. Maybe that should be changed. But, this year, it
accounted for 27 qsos. The other 1200+ were on CW.
Perhaps more germaine to this CONTESTING thread is that FD is the ONLY
contest that attracts new operators on a routine basis. Gosh, FD was my
first contest. I doubt I would be a contester if I hadn't been bitten
by the "how many contacts can you make in a weekend" bug.
In terms of fun, there is no better contest. It is my favorite, can you
tell? People work together for a common goal. Teamwork is more
important than individual appliance skills.
Maybe the scoring and reward system should be overhauled. To keep this
light natured, here is my proposed scoring change:
CW qsos X 4
SSB qsos X 1
data qsos X 0
Bonus points
New operators (less than 5 years experience) add 100 points each
Alcohol free zones add 100 points
Emergency power, publicity, blah, blah, blah add 100 points
Use of a bug to send CW add 100 points
Old operators (more than 40 years experience) add 100 points each
(they will tell you how to do it right)
Calling the guy on frequency (on CW) add 100 points if all
called on frequency
No AC hum or chirp add 100 points
Earth friendly FD operation add 200 points
(defined as leaving no evidence of your FD operation afterwards like
string in trees, garbage, etc.)
That is my 2 cents worth.
Bottom line, KEEP FD the same. It ain't broken.
VY 73, Doug K4LT 1B KY
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