APRS being run by rovers does you little good when they are
out of "FM with an omni" antenna range. In my case for the
January VHF SS that would have been 90% of the rover Q's that
I did make. So if I had depended on APRS for me to find the
rovers I would have only worked a couple rover Q's. This is
huge step backwards for what VHF contesting should be
striving for.
And until the rover rules are modified to truly encourage
rovers to activate the distant and/or rarer grids we will see
a continuation of rovers clustering near the higher density
population centers. And when they do that APRS used like this
by rovers will indeed work, but *only* for those in those
high population areas but not for those who are 100+ miles
away. This too is backwards.
Duane
N9DG
--- Dave Agsten <w4txs@yahoo.com> wrote:
> Right On Ron,
>
> Also, it would nice if the ARRL & CQ opened their eyes
> and allowed APRS to be used in the VHF/UHF contests. Many,
> many times while roving I hear stations that don't have
> their beams pointed in my direction. I call and call with
> no response or they hear me weakly and don't think to
> rotate their antennas. It ends up wasting valuable
> contesting time when, if APRS were allowed, permanent
> stations would be able to see Rovers, rotate their
> antennas, and generate more contacts and grids in less
> time. Also, Rovers could see other Rovers and not operate
> on top of each other. Rather than going to the same grid,
> Rovers could choose to activate a different grid based upon
> knowing where other Rovers were operating from. It's a win
> win situation. I've never figured out how the use of APRS
> is much different than knowing where one permanent station
> is located from another and pointing your antennas
> accordingly.
>
> And, as far as "waste" of spectrum is concerned, I see
> more waste from some very high powered, over-driven
> stations in every VHF/UHF contest.
>
> 73,
> Dave N8AG (ex W4TXS)
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