SECC members:
The letter below was sent to Dave Sumner K1ZZ, to be distributed to the members
of the ARRL Board of Directors. It is signed by the presidents of the major
contest clubs, and asks the Board to delay any changes in contest coverage in
QST until the contest community has discussed the issue and presented a proposal
to them.
The ARRL Board meeting starts today (Thurs), so this was done on a very short
timetable -- I apologize for not sending it out on the reflector until it was
done. As you can see, the letter is not controversial, it is only a request to
let the contest community try to find a solution before they make changes.
If the letter generates a positive response from the Board, a committe will be
established to come up with recommendations for QST and Web-based contest
coverage. Of course, any proposal must address the financial issues that caused
this subject to arise. Anyone wishing to represent SECC on this committe should
contact me directly at k9ay@k9ay.com
I will forward more info as I receive it.
73, Gary
K9AY
SECC Prez
--------------------------------------------------------
[e-mail "cover letter"]
> Hi Dave,
>
> The contesting community has been very concerned about the proposal to cut
> line-by-line results from future QST coverage of contests. On the recently
> established contest club presidents reflector, we decided to address this
issue
> directly. The attached Joint Statement and Request was drafted and approved by
> everyone in less than 24 yours. We feel that it is very important for the BoD
> know how we feel and listen to our proposal for action prior to voting on this
> matter.
>
> We hope that you will be able to deliver this to all board members
immediately.
> Please accept and consider this request with the same positive spirit that
> inspired its creation.
>
> Communicating for all the contest club presidents who developed this important
> message, 73, and we appreciate your support,
>
> Jim Idelson K1IR
> President
> Yankee Clipper Contest Club
------------------------------------------------------------------
James S. Idelson
96 Morse Road
Sudbury, MA 01776
tel 978.443.5549 fax 978.443.2034
email k1ir@designet.com
January 15, 2002
ARRL Board of Directors
SUBJECT: JOINT STATEMENT AND REQUEST OF U.S. CONTEST CLUBS ON THE PROPOSAL TO
ELIMINATE DETAILED CONTEST RESULTS FROM QST
To the Board of Directors:
We, the presidents of the undersigned ARRL-affiliated contest clubs, wish to
respectfully submit our unanimously held views on the current proposal to
eliminate certain elements of contest coverage from QST in an effort to reduce
cost. We are requesting that you defer this decision and accept our proposal to
contribute resources and work with the ARRL to develop a more complete and
effective solution to the problem.
The presidents of the ARRL-affiliated contest clubs unanimously support the
following Joint Statement and Request. In many cases, there has been sufficient
time to gain the support of club membership, as well:
1. We, the undersigned, recognize and appreciate the work that the ARRL does in
support of contesting, including sponsorship and administration of 15 ARRL
contests plus the IARU contest, publishing rules, collecting logs, scoring the
contests, providing awards, publishing results, maintaining the CAC, employing
Dan Henderson and Kathy Allison. We support the Contest Robot, Cabrillo and
Logbook of the World projects - all of which will benefit contesters.
2. We understand and support the League's goal of producing QST with
ever-increasing quality, and to do so within certain financial constraints.
3. We feel that coverage of contesting in the printed format of QST is extremely
important to the future of contesting as a mainstream amateur radio activity.
4. We feel that QST's printed line-by-line scores are extremely important at all
levels of competition and participation. Although web-based results can serve
the purpose of delivering the same information at a lower delivery cost, we feel
that printed results serve a special purpose in promoting contesting. Printed
results in the national magazine provide a unique sense of satisfaction and
pride to participants; this cannot be duplicated with web-based results.
5. We are committed to assisting the League in finding solutions for complete
contest coverage that can be delivered at lower cost using all forms of media -
print and electronic, while at the same time making such coverage more
attractive and interesting to a much wider audience than has been the case to
date.
6. We ask the League to defer it's decision regarding elimination of detailed
contest results from QST until we have had an opportunity to work together to
craft a solution that meets the financial requirements while further enhancing
the quality of the product that is delivered.
7. To move this process forward expeditiously, we are assembling a group of
volunteers to participate in an ARRL Contest Coverage Working Group, whose goal
is to assist the League in defining a cost-effective and pragmatic solution for
outstanding coverage of ARRL contests - combining both QST and web-based
delivery methods.
ARRL Contest Coverage Working Group - Member Profiles
Long-time, experienced contesters
New, less-experienced contesters-in-training
Non-contesters
Business/marketing experts
Sports journalism/writing experts
Electronic delivery experts
SIGNATURE - TITLE - ORGANIZATION - DATE
/s/ WILL ANGENENT President Southern California Contest Club January 15, 2002
Will Angenent, K6NDV
/s/ GARY BREED President South East Contest Club January 15, 2002
Gary Breed, K9AY
/s/ SCOTT DETLOFF President North Coast Contesters January 15, 2002
Scott Detloff, K8DX
/s/ AL DEWEY President Minnesota Wireless Association January 15, 2002
Al Dewey, K0AD
/s/ PAUL GENTRY President Society of Midwest Contesters January 15, 2002
Paul Gentry, K9PG
/s/ JAMES IDELSON President Yankee Clipper Contest Club January 15, 2002
James Idelson, K1IR
/s/ BRIAN MCGINNESS President Potomac Valley Radio Club January 15, 2002
Brian McGinness, N3OC
/s/ ROBERT NAUMANN President North Texas Contest Club January 15, 2002
Robert Naumann, N5NJ
/s/ DOUG PRIEST President Frankford Radio Club January 15, 2002
Doug Priest, W3CF
/s/ DAVID PRUETT President Mad River Radio Club January 15, 2002
David Pruett, K8CC
/s/ DANIEL SCAGGS President Tennessee Contest Group January 15, 2002
Daniel Scaggs, N7DLS
/s/ RICK TAVAN President Northern California Contest Club January 15, 2002
Rick Tavan, N6XI
Please contact me with any questions, comments or other communications regarding
this Joint Statement and Request.
Respectfully submitted,
James S. Idelson, K1IR
President
Yankee Clipper Contest Club
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