Bruce Richardson wrote:
> In most of WI and MN, some of the big-guns are 10, 15, and 20 KHz
> away from .200 because they find stations DO find them. Rovers may
> announce on .200, but many Rovers in WI and MN are .170, .160, and
> .240 and .250 to find quiet freqs upon which fixed stations in the
> noisy metro area can hear them. Pre-advertising before the event
> seems to REALLY help.
Pre-self-spotting. :-)
Why then not allow fully-internet connected and digipeated APRS then?
(Just stirring THAT pot.) At least that's ham radio driven, even if it
eventually ends up on the Net. I still have to have a radio to participate.
Multi-ops use propagation and DX cluster type networks to see where
other stations are hearing me, if they participate in such networks, and
many do -- why not allow the rovers to self-announce and cut out the
middle-man of who may or may not be interested in helping the other guys
out by sharing his/her data.
Heck, even in most rural no-mans-land areas I can now get "medium-speed"
mobile Internet connectivity direct to the Rover via a cell phone
nowadays too, for that matter. Can I use propagation networks? Who
would even know if I did or didn't? (Heck the rules state the
single-ops have to file under "Assisted" to do that, who checks it? Ha.)
The rover rules are outdated for today's technologies available in the
boondocks, really.
In practice out here in the wide-open-West, I found that most operators
"found" me by listening FOR the big multi-ops working me. Some
multi-ops even announced that I was there, which was not requested by
me. "WY0X Rover is on frequency guys, listen up!"
(We're a friendly group out here. If they were only interested in their
points and egos, they'd have NEVER done it. Anyone listening would know
they just made the exchange anyway, but having a multi-op SOLICIT
contacts for me was a very welcome surprise and totally unexpected. I'm
betting some of you East Coaster's would have had heart-attacks if you'd
have heard someone out there doing that!)
It was very rare to have the first contact in a far-out grid NOT be one
of the monster multi-ops. Then people "heard" the multi-op working me
and tail-ended after the big multi-op finished working me.
It didn't matter if I called on 144.200 or somewhere else (actually if
pointed the right direction 432.1 was regularly a BETTER way to get
attention from multi-op AND single-op stations, perhaps a sign that some
single-ops don't monitor 144.2 out here as much as they monitor 432.1
when 6m is hot and heavy)... something to remember in big 6m years.
The first contact from almost every grid was with a big multi-op or
another rover nearby, unless I called someone specifically that I heard
well -- to start the fray -- and the multi-ops always jumped right in
after that, anyway.
I pre-published a route but not a time-table, and people knew generally
how far along that route I was when they heard a multi-op working me,
making antenna pointing easy.
Heck, I even had multi-ops ask me if I wanted them to go find some of
the single-ops on whatever band they were on and bring them to me... was
I supposed to say "no way"?
Or do as I did, "Totally up to you, guys... thanks much if you want to
go do it. He may need me out here, I've already got my multiplier for
that grid. One more point isn't much help but I'll gladly work him if
he needs the grid. QRZ?"
Multipliers and Q-rates win the Rover category right now. Once I've
worked a multi-op in each grid "back in the city", I'm "done" making
serious points around here... if 6m is open, it's very likely that
working someone far away on 6m will gain me a LOT more points than
making a hard 1.2 GHz local shot to a grid I've already got the multi-op
in. Kinda sad, really -- that local station would probably really like
to see how well his 1.2 GHz setup is working. But we save it for "down"
6m years, I guess.
So really the main contacts for rovers out here are the big multi-ops in
different grid squares and then the rest is just a judgment call of "how
fun" I want to make it for the other folks who want to work me.
I did a poor job of staying on 144 and 432 this year when multi-ops
wanted to go up the bands right away -- ruining the "fun" for many, I
heard later... one guy wanted to try calling me on CW after the SSB
contacts died down, but never got the chance. I was gone too soon.
I would have enjoyed that QSO because I know his station is a difficult
location to get out from. I would have been "mentally worth more" to me
to have given him the grid in the boonies on his mediocre station,
especially since he's a friend, but the contest is structured in such a
way that I get more bang for the buck out of going up the bands with the
big multi-op vs. working the weak ones...
This probably indicates something wrong with the rover rules.
How to alter the rules to make it attractive for me to stick around on
VHF and work five other guys in the same grid as the multi-op?
That's the mathematical challenge presented to the folks designing the
contest.
Isn't it more "fun" for all if I have an incentive to STAY PUT and work
the rest of the pile up?
It's an interesting question. Going up bands with the multi-op warrants
X number of points. Working that exact same number of Q's with MULTIPLE
stations (the point of the whole contest, really?) in the multi-op's
grid square gains me far less points, many orders of magnitude lower.
But those are the "tough" contacts and in my mind, and should be
weighted MORE heavily.
Want to get rid of so-called "captive rovers" and "grid-circling"? Fix
the above problem mathematically and weight contacts with people further
away -- even if in the same grid square -- higher than working the guy
in the grid next to me in his rover.
Also give me more points for working ten stations on ONE band in that
grid way far away vs. working one station closer to me on all bands.
It would be a VERY different contest.
But, it all depends on what the point (no pun intended) of the contest is.
Rover rules are currently designed to make Rovers a point-and-shoot
operation for multi-ops and we mutually benefit each other. The
single-ops and low power stations further away from the rover aren't
"prime" targets for any single-op rover seriously looking for points,
unless they're in a different grid square.
(I guess that's another point, single-op roving and multi-op roving are
considered the same beast in scoring, and they're not - not by a long-shot.)
Out here, with the ham population virtually ALL in DM79 -- the contest
is a bunch of rovers circling Denver, mostly working multi-ops and each
other.
Thank goodness the vast majority of ops here are friendly and will wait
a few minutes if you want to "make it fun" for the other guys, but if
you're 100% focused on points, there really would be no point in working
the other guys.
Moving to the next grid and shooting the multi-ops on all bands makes
more sense from a purely score-based perspective. Try to work the other
guys with the antennas pointed the wrong way while mobile, and get
moving... another grid activated is LOTS more points than waiting around
for the weak ones.
At least so far, no one's taken to grid-circling yet around here, but
it's certainly a temptation. Working with KR0VER/R this year, we
decided we would NOT do it, but we literally wasted thousands and
thousands of points by NOT doing it when we had opportunities to do so.
in the corner of Colorado/Wyoming/Nebraska.
Personally I figure it's just a lame waste of time to talk to someone
50' away, but I don't blame those who do it -- I blame the math of the
point system as it currently stands. We DID work each other once in
each grid, and one time across grid lines when he was headed the
OPPOSITE direction down the same road that I was, and it bumped both our
scores by quite a bit, I'm sure. But it was dumb. We should have
gotten more points for working the weak ones over the ridgeline in DM79
from where we were, really. But once we had a multi-op in DM79 bagged
on all bands, there was no point advantage better than working each
other. And we paid for the gas to get out there, so -- might as well.
But I'm simply not interested in true "grid-circling" and I believe it
can be fixed. That holds no interest for me and isn't worth $300 or
more in gas money.
Change the rules and MAKE me work the weak ones... as a rover. I'd LOVE it.
Nate WY0X
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