--- Eric Smith <kb7dqh@donobi.net> wrote:
> And a thought crossed my mind... Since rovers are
> only in
> score competition with other rovers, why in heck are
> fixed
> and portable stations even remotely concerned about
> how a rover "gets points"??????
Somebody correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't the
original purpose of roving to activate more rare and
semi rare grids for the *fixed* stations to work???
What grid circling has effectively done is to
completely negate that original goal and purpose. The
grid circler's are typically low EIRP such that few
ops other than the pack members themselves can work.
Now if there was a rover only contest where circling
is fully sanctioned nobody would have anything to
complain about, those who like the GC activity would
and those that don't won't. But when this activity is
occurring during a regular VHF contests it represents
a "draw down" of available ops who may have otherwise
made themselves available to as many of the fixed
stations that they possibly can. As such a pack roving
"category" really does need to be its own completely
separate contest instead.
And furthermore if I was a rover operating within the
original spirit and goal in mind I would be very upset
with the idea that I could *never* be competitive as
rover unless I joined a pack myself. Those rovers who
do seek to provide rare grids to as many fixed ops as
possible *do* get discouraged by this and leave
roving. So what then was actually achieved in the end
by grid circling roving? The only thing that I can see
is a huge score for the pack participants, everybody
else loses, not just in terms of points but meaningful
participation instead.
> But, maybe these "non-rover" stations may need to
> improve
> their stations to the point where they can hear a
> flea
> sneeze 500 miles away? Except nearby "noise
> sources" make this impractical???
But many of these fixed stations *can* hear that flea
500 miles away, and they do often hear the grid
circling rovers out there. But those GC rovers either
don't hear them, or simply ignore all fixed stations
that are not stronger than S9. They are too busy
keeping to the pack schedule to exclusion of almost
everybody else.
> Some of us out on the NorthLeft Coast have been
> figgering
> out ways to maximize the gain/power RX sensetivity
> of a
> "practical" rover station, to the point of straining
> automotive and rotator technology to the breaking
> point and beyond.
...
And based on this description I doubt if this roving
station is being used to exclusively work *only* other
rovers in a pack over just few miles. It *is* the type
of roving effort that us fixed station like to see and
work.
Do we as fixed stations have a problem with rovers
working other rovers in and of itself? Of course not,
it only becomes a problem when rovers working rovers
turns into its own narrowly focused activity that has
been pre-orchestrated for the sole purpose of working
other pack member rovers.
Duane
N9DG
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