I think the real issue, and in my opinion mistake, here is calling it an
overlay category and then saying only the first 24 hours will count. By
doing that, technically everyone qualifies with their first 24 hours which
wasn't the point. 2 choices could be made - trim down what's allowed to
qualify for the time (1 radio and no spots) or make it a stand alone
category and its closed after 24 hours. I think that a mistake was made in
not choosing the second option and making it the same as SOAB assisted. The
people most interested in 24 hours competition because of time are most
likely also interested in the effeciencies of assisted during the 24 hours.
And I think given the choice of a 24 hour category with no spots and just
having fun as they always have and using the cluster, the vast majority will
choose the second.
It's a change to be tried, and I support it since it should have no adverse
effect on the rest of us. I think people thinking that even as a standard
24 hour category and not an overlay, that somehow significant numbers of
people are going to hit their 24 hour limit and turn the radios off are not
looking at the data. The much more impactful outcome would be getting
significant numbers of casual operators to go from 10 - 15 hours to 24. And
that's where I believe the assisted ban is a mistake.
73
Ed N1UR
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