After talking to Bob Wilson, N6TV, our CAC representative, on the phone
tonight and discussing this proposal, I am sending it to the CAC at his
request. I am sending copies to the Contest Reflector and to my River
City Contest Club.
This is my proposal that I feel may satisfy all sides of the club
boundary discussion. I feel it is relatively easy to define and could
be easily implemented. As the original proponent of the now adopted
"assisted" category, I know that the CAC does respond to reasonable
suggestions, and I hope this proposal will provide the CAC "food for
thought" as did my "assisted" proposal.
I suggest that a rule be added to the Club Competition criteria which
states that any club otherwise constrained by a member location
restriction defined by a radius in miles be allowed to select an
alternative club member boundary definition. That alternative
definition must be filed with the ARRL on a specific date each year.
The same filing date, such as January 1, would apply to every club and
once filed would remain in effect for the following year.
I suggest that the alternative club boundary rule be defined as follows:
A club may opt to select an alternative boundary which contains no more
than the area defined by the appropriate radius rule. That alternative
club boundary must fit entirely within a circle with a radius double
the original radius and may not include more area than the area
included by the original radius. Further, the club boundary perimeter
may not be longer than the circumference of a circle with a radius
double the original radius as defined by the appropriate radius rule.
For instance, a club now constrained to a 20 mile radius would be able
to redifine its boundaries still restricted to 1256 square miles, but
with a 251 mile perimeter allowed rather than the 126 miles around the
area with a 20 mile radius.
This proposal maintains the same exact land area for each club category,
so the existing records will be appropriate, based on area rather than
radius. The restriction of the total boundary length will preclude a
club boundary which would have a small hub and many points, thus
effectively resizing the radius to effectively twice the original.
This proposal will permit a club to draw its boundaries, within a radius
of twice the present size, to include population centers and active
contesters but will maintain the same area as the present rules. Thus
the existing records will continue to have meaning as they represent
efforts by clubs with the same area as future clubs in the same
category.
Mapping software is available and cheap, such as Delorme StreetAtlas,
which makes the calculation of area and circumference of an irregular
area trivial. As this alternative definition of club boundary would be
optional, clubs could decide whether or not to adopt the alternative
and accept the requisite effort to calculate and document area and
circumference (perimeter).
Jay O'Brien, W6GO
w6go@quiknet.com
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