Happy New Year VHF contesting galaxy!
An introduction: As has been announced in CQ Magazine, I have recently
picked up the reins of VHF Contest Director for CQ's July WW VHF Contest.
I'd like to take the opportunity to bounce a couple of ideas off the
reflector re QRP entries.
First, however, I want to applaud Gene Zimmerman, W3ZZ, for his outstanding
job in resurrecting the CQ VHF Contest from the grave. Especially as a
regular portable operations entry, I and many other have found the 6 and
2-meter only format of the past three years a welcome relief from the real
hard work of a 6m-to-light operation. Gene has been most helpful to me
during the transition. We wish him well in his new duties with QST.
Re QRP -- I operated QRP @25 w out of necessity during the 2002 contest and
frankly noticed little difference in my score from running my usual several
hundred watts. True, especially on 6 m, I may have missed the 2nd and 3rd
layers of callers that would have been attracted to my QRO signal. But I
have also operated in ARRL contests with the ARRL defined 10 watts from
mountaintop locations...and that will beat almost any QRO home station any
time. Also, so far in processing QRP entries for the 2002 contest, all are
at 10 watts or less, except two [mine is one] at 25 w. Therefore, for
consistancy between contests...and recognizing radios like the FT-817 and
even the old Icom 502, 202, and 402 still much in use at lower power
levels...that QRP be defined on VHF at 10 watts. This segways nicely to a
related concept.
Many of you know me in past VHF Contests as a "rare grid provider"....having
operated portable over the years from 21 different [usually rare] grids, 10
states and 3 DXCC entities....something I have found very rewarding. But the
biggest obstacle to such operations is the potential amount of work involved.
Eliminating weekend shelter and sustenance considerations as well as "can
you drive there with all this stuff?"...can make for a more fun contest
experience. Thus, how about a subset of the QRP category called the
"Hilltopper QRP"...which would be a quickee 6-hour operation...where you
would either drive or hike to a nice spot with minimal QRP 10 watt
radio....operate from the start of the contest 'til dark and go home?
Perhaps from a rare grid square. If you liked it so much and wanted to do it
on the 2nd day...go to another neat spot in another nearby grid square...sign
"portable (call area)" to distinguish it from the previous day's operation
and rovers....operate six hours and call it quits. How's that for fun? This
"easy does it" approach could promote many more portable operations that
don't require the heavy committment of a full-fledged operation...and be
compeitive.
I am suggesting that we "unofficiallly" incorporate this into the 2003 CQ VHF
Contest....give editorial highlights of participants in the results...and
give certificates to the deserving. If the response is good, put it in the
offiial rules the following year.
Your comments and on these two minor tweaks and any other suggestions would
be much appreciated. 73,
-- John Lindholm, W1XX
CQ WW VHF Contestr Director
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