Hi Jack and Jim, ok I understand what you are saying, and Jack took the
time to write at great length. Nevertheless, it is still my personal
preference to know where someone is from his callsign. Sometimes I may be
looking specifically for a state in one zone and want to know who to call.
Or I want to know if my signal from NY is reaching all the way to CA. The
old system was quite useful. I guess I personally would like to maintain
some sort of remnant of the zone system. It is one thing if you were issued
a call when you lived in a zone, but then decided to move away and want to
keep your call. I wouldn't give up mine for sentimental reasons, as I got
my novice WN2VIU at 12 years old. But to specifically request a call from
another area sort of defeats the entire zone system. I believe the reason
many do it is because contesting has become so cutthroat that guys believe
taking the time to send extra characters in the call will slow them down.
So they don't want to send /5 or take a longer call from their own zone if
a short call isn't available. Sure, I understand that some guys may want to
take their father's call who became an SK or some specific reason. But I
think the zone system was very useful and a big part of the flavor of ham
radio for so many years that I don't want to throw it away. But sheesh, I
thought the same about CW and that was tossed out, as well, in licensing.
Just my personal preferences, but I respect that of others, too.
73,
Barry WA2VIU
--
Barry Jacobson
WA2VIU
bdj@alum.mit.edu
@bdj_phd
On Tue, Sep 26, 2023, 9:36 PM Jack Brindle via CQ-Contest <
cq-contest@contesting.com> wrote:
> The change occurred in the mid 1970s. This is also when additional station
> licenses went away. W6FB is licensed to me at my address in Louisiana. I am
> not portable, so there is no reason to sign /5. There is no prohibition
> against getting a new vanity call outside the district you may be living
> in. Thus even though you may live in PA, you can get W0AA if that call is
> available, without any need to add /3...
>
> Every contest I look at my LCRs. For those contests that show how others
> logged my info incorrectly (like the CQ contests), I almost always find 6
> or 7 stations that logged me in CA even though I don’t send that. Worse, in
> contests that use ARRL sections, folks want to put me in LAX, not LA.
> That becomes really funny when they have no propagation to 6-land, but
> seem to expect that a 6 must be in CA.
>
> As for Trey, if I hear him sign his call with a zone of 31, I would assume
> he is visiting KH6TU and not slow him down by asking for his QTH. I have
> huge respect for George, but I disagree with his statement. Just because
> someone isn’t where I may expect them to be doesn’t mean they are
> elsewhere. I don’t want to tick them off and mess up their rate by asking
> for their QTH or some other repeat unless I really need it. Just log what
> they send and move on.
>
> As for W6FB, I’ve been here 2 and a half years, and am not moving back to
> CA. If you hear me, the odds are I am in LA (just copy what I send!). My
> info is correct (except for Lat/Lon which is about 200 miles off) in the
> CTY country files - I didn’t even have to ask Jim to add it. He does an
> outstanding job with administering those files!
>
> 73,
> Jack, W6FB
> Back home in Lake Charles, LA
>
> > On Sep 26, 2023, at 6:25 PM, Barry Jacobson <bdj@alum.mit.edu> wrote:
> >
> > No clue why the old format W6FB/5 is no longer used. And sometimes I
> think I hear W5/W6FB, in reverse. I am kind of a Rip Van Winkle because was
> inactive for a while and things are quite different.
> >
> > Barry WA2VIU
> >
> > --
> > Barry Jacobson
> > WA2VIU
> > bdj@alum.mit.edu <mailto:bdj@alum.mit.edu>
> > @bdj_phd
> >
> > On Tue, Sep 26, 2023, 5:57 PM Jack Brindle via CQ-Contest <
> cq-contest@contesting.com <mailto:cq-contest@contesting.com>> wrote:
> >> I’m in agreement with everyone here, especially Jim. If you work me,
> and you _do_ log a 3, you will lose the Q. I am now in Louisiana, which is
> not in zone 3.
> >> Remember, hams tend to move around a lot, and lots of hams are leaving
> CA. The FCC allows us to keep our calls wherever we go.
> >>
> >> 73,
> >> Jack, W6FB
> >>
> >> > On Sep 25, 2023, at 8:43 PM, jimk8mr--- via CQ-Contest <
> cq-contest@contesting.com <mailto:cq-contest@contesting.com>> wrote:
> >> >
> >> > What is an obviously incorrect zone? If I work you in CQWW and you
> log my "obviously" correct by QRZ.com zone from Ohio, you'll lose the QSO
> since I'll be in zone 5 in Florida. But you will have lots of company.
> >> > I haven't followed it that closely, but I sense that a guy who leaves
> half a millisecond before sending his TU message will likely have me wrong.
> The guys who take a second are busy typing in the zone I sent.
> >> > Now if G4XYZ sends zone 27, I will correct that to zone 14.
> >> >
> >> > 73 - Jim K8MR
> >> >
> >> >
> >> > On Monday, September 25, 2023 at 09:13:51 PM EDT, john <
> reillyjf@comcast.net <mailto:reillyjf@comcast.net>> wrote:
> >> >
> >> > When you receive an obviously incorrect Zone (like the guy is from CA
> >> > and sends something other than 3), do you log what he sends, or the
> >> > correct Zone? You could be screwed either way, but logging the
> correct
> >> > Zone seems the lesser of the evils.
> >> > - John, N0TA
> >> >
> >> >
> >> > _______________________________________________
> >> > CQ-Contest mailing list
> >> > CQ-Contest@contesting.com <mailto:CQ-Contest@contesting.com>
> >> > http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/cq-contest
> >>
> >>
> >> _______________________________________________
> >> CQ-Contest mailing list
> >> CQ-Contest@contesting.com <mailto:CQ-Contest@contesting.com>
> >> http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/cq-contest
>
> _______________________________________________
> CQ-Contest mailing list
> CQ-Contest@contesting.com
> http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/cq-contest
>
_______________________________________________
CQ-Contest mailing list
CQ-Contest@contesting.com
http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/cq-contest
|