To say it is sanctioned, is a stretch when grid circling and controversial
are not to far from each other in all the articles. It is perhaps defacto
sanctioned much in the way one might mark up the value of donations to the
salvation army for tax purposes. To sanction it would to be to make it its own
classification. People roved before roving and sent in several logs. The arrl
sanctioned it by making it a classification. Again we have evolved to a point
where
a decision is to be made.
As for the lack of operating and technical skill, I don't understand where
you are coming from. I have 2 or 3 radios on at all times, I use a headset and
foot switch to transmit while I drive. If I hear someone who I cant get while
I am driving down the road I stop where I legally can and turn the array to
find them.
Most rovers who offer their stations to others to work have to put antennas
on their vehicles and that involves some engineering and some guts. To Place a
stacked set of 2 meter beams, stacked 432 beams, 222 beam, 1.2 and 900 MHz
flame throwers and a 6 meter beam on top of your vehicle is somewhat of a
challenge. To build the structure to hold them all and take a beating from
trees and
bad roads is a challenge.
I was pretty nervous the 1st time I set out with all that stuff up there.
The bunch that circle are just as technical, its the circling issue for me.
The ones who are not so technical are the ones doing it with handhelds.
I likely have the radios on for 27 hours of the contest. The diffacere is
that some of us sleep in our vehicles on top of a mountain waiting for the guys
in their shacks to wake up.
Someone who builds an effective station in his car 3 times a year is just as
technical as someone who built one at home once. Both stations constantly
tweak things to get things better.
k3uhf
_______________________________________________
VHFcontesting mailing list
VHFcontesting@contesting.com
http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/vhfcontesting
|