-------- Original Message --------
Subject: Club Circle Rule: A Proposal for the Future
Date: Sat, 19 May 2007 14:27:06 -0400
From: Bob, W3IDT <w3idt@comcast.net>
Reply-To: w3idt@comcast.net
All,
The (175 mile radius) club circle rule dates from the early 1970s, and
was enacted to prevent large "virtual" contest clubs from having
members, in effect, from throughout the United States. Also note that
an unlimited club could encompass an entire ARRL section, regardless of
size (an Alaska Contest Club?).
At that time, a road map or, better, a USGS topo map was marked with
potential members' locations, and a suitable scaled transparent circle
was moved around the map to capture as many of the station marks as
possible (refinements of course included weighting each station mark by
its score potential).
In the early 1980s, however, a revolutionary geographic entity entered
the amateur radio world: the Maidenhead Grid Square system. While
originally used for VHF/UHF contest, this system is now used for HF
contests as well (160m Stew Perry Challenge).
I propose that the geographic region of contest clubs be defined by grid
squares, and unlimited ARRL contest clubs specifically as 15 contiguous
grid squares. By contiguous, I mean touching along either the horizontal
longitudinal) or vertical (latitudinal) border; FN11 and FN22, for
example, are not contiguous as the "touch" only at one point.
Rationale for 15 grid squares: The current 175 mile radius rule is
equivalent of just under 100,000 square miles - the area of a circle is
PI times the square of the radius, or 3.14 * 175 * 175, or about 96,163
square miles. The area of single grid square within the United States
is about 70 by 100 miles, or 7000 square miles. 15 such grid squares is
about 105,000 square miles. Granted, 14 grid squares matches the 175
mile radius rule a little closer, but 15 is a much nicer round number.
A grid square is either completely in a club region, or completely
outside the club region. Simple. All stations "know" - or can easily
determine - their grid square. It's either in or out; no complicated
"curvature of the earth" calculations.
No objections to a grid square "belonging" to two or more clubs -
stations within that grid square choose the club to belong to (depending
on who helps them the most?).
Bob, w3idt
--
.............................
. Robert F. Teitel, W3IDT .
. .
. W3IDT@arrl.net .
. W3IDT@comcast.net .
.............................
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