I read with interest your ?quasi history? of rovers.
It is generally consistent with a more detailed
historical review of VHF activities, including VHF
contest rules revisions, that I have written for the
SMC. It can be on the VHF sub-page of the SMC
web-site, at:
http://www.w9smc.com/SMC%20VHF/Consolidated%20history.pdf
An analysis of the impact that rules revisions have
had on VHF log entries, including rover revisions, can
be found at:
http://www.w9smc.com/SMC%20VHF/OtherImpactsarticle.pdf
One of the interesting conclusions I made in the above
analysis is that rules revisions will often generate
unintended consequences, many of which are not
foreseen during the development of the initial rules
set, and some of which are counterproductive to the
intent of the revisions.
As a short review of the rover rules, and other
associated rules revisions, I submit the following.
Many of these items come from the above referenced
Historical Notes:
Jan, 1978 - QSO points were added for the first time
in the Jan VHF SS, accelerating point production.
Spring, 1983 ? the first VHF contest to use grid
squares was the 1st VHF Sprint Sprints. The
Maidenhead system revolutionized both contesting and
general operating activities. The usage of grids for
multipliers also increased contest points.
Mid to late 1980?s ? mobile operators began to submit
separate entries for each grid traversed, again
increasing point production for the fixed stations.
Multis started to coordinate with mobile grid efforts.
There were several instances of rovers winning 2 or
more national top 10 spots in the QRP portable class
in the same contest. These ?mobilers? gradually
became known as rovers.
June, 1991 - Many contesters felt that captive rovers
of the big multi operations were becoming a problem.
There was also a general belief that many people
enjoyed rover activities outside of assisting the
multis. To deal with the matter, a separate rover
category was added in June 1991. It was felt that a
separate competition for the rovers would encourage
operations independent of the big multi set-ups.
Jan, 1993 ? two separate father-son rover teams scored
over 1 Million points each in an early usage of grid
circling. Their club, Hampden County, won the
unlimited club competition by over 4 million points,
temporarily disrupting the dominance of the Mt. Airy
VHF Club. The Rochester VHF Group also outscored Mt.
Airy by using rovers but finished 2nd behind Hampden.
Havoc ensued in the clubs, resulting in rover rules
changes in June, 1993 that attempted to dampen the
scoring impact that rovers could generate.
June, 1993 to 1995 ? The 1993 revised rover rules then
caused havoc to existing rovers, some of whom became
so discouraged by the revisions that they quit roving
altogether. Others threatened to start their own
roving and portable types of VHF contests. A few
rovers even continued to submit logs using the
original scoring rules, as an individual protest to
the situation. No word on whether the scores were
rejected or rescored by the League.
Jan, 1995 ? Recognizing the reaction from the rovers,
modifications to the rover scoring system once again
occurred in January 1995.
August, 1995 ? to further stimulate rover activity,
the rover category was added to the August UHF.
Early 2000's - Things settle down a bit, as the rover
class matures into a very healty and important segment
of VHF contests. The rover class continues to grow,
and is generally considered a successful, but
controversial, category expansion to the League
contest system.
2002 ? A VHF survey is circulated to several hundred
known VHF operators, asking for comments and input
regarding the recent trend in reduced contest log
entries.
2003 ? Numerous controversies erupted concerning
captive rovers, grid circling, and microwaves being
extensively used in contests between rover to rover
and rover to sponsoring multis.
2003 - A rules subcommittee was formed to look into
extensive rules revisions, in light of continuing
declines in VHF contest log entries.
Spring to Summer, 2004 ? The awards subcommittee
recommended returning to the original rover rules, but
also prohibiting rovers from submitting scores in the
club competition. Several other proposals were made,
including restricting the June VHF to a VHF 4 band
only event. The reaction from the rovers was mixed,
while the clubs strongly objected to the deletion of
rovers from the club competition. Many of non-rover
proposals were also objected to by contesters as being
too drastic in nature. Most of the recommendations,
including proposals on the rovers, were generally
withdrawn for lack of support among the VHF community.
A proposal for a limited SO, as well as some smaller
revisions, continued to be advanced.
Currently ? (Fall, 2004) Controversies on the rovers
and the interplay with microwave scoring methods
continue, as further examples of rover circling
occurred in both the Jan and June 2004 contests.
Kevin
W9GKA
EM48
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