Note, that I've left the Subject intact, in case there are those who wish to
ignore it. :)
One of the benefits of on-list discussions is that it affords an opportunity to
learn from others. After which we can make individual choices as to what to to
with that information. With that in mind, I'll attempt to address some of the
items that folks have brought up. My intent is to open free thought on the
topic.
My information is from the perspective of being the person who actually engaged
the ARRL Contest Desk in conversations on the topic and whose results were
posted by THEM to various contest lists, publicly (it's all in the public
archives if anyone wanted to find them). They publicly stated (to several
e-mail lists, by the way) that HamIM (at the time, it was referred to as
BEACONet because it was originally conceived as a repetitively IDing rover
"beacon") was an APPROVED strategy. (caps for emphasis, I'm not shouting).
With that behind us...here goes....
1. "Pardon the sarcasm, but the folks that would like to see APRS used want to
see it used FOR the specific abilities you have called out below." (referencing
the configuration changes that would be necessary in order to use APRS in ARRL
contests)
1a.Then "folks" wish to operate (1) Assisted, (2) Using non-Amateur means of
communication, (3) with more than one signal per band in clear violation of the
rules. :) There are ways to get similar benefits without violating those
rules. That is what I meant when I said that there are operators who have
learned strategies to be successful (like us ugly people who figure out how to
get noticed in a crowd of pretty people <g>).
2. "Using it for spotting rovers when it requires every fixed station contester
to get a new 2m radio, add a dedicated 2m antenna for receiving, a new TNC and
effectively limit the range down to 100miles defeats the purpose of asking for
the ability to use it."
2a. "Spotting" never occurs. That is a word used to describe what happens when
an operator communicates information to others that those people didn't gather
themselves. This is no more "spotting" than using a CW or voice keyer to call
"CQ". One simply allows a TNC to do it for them instead.
2b. Yes, it requires equipment. The cheapest on the market: 2-meter FM.
Cost-benefit? Cost of a commercial 47 GHz transverter, dish, etc? $1000.
Benefit to the score of a small/medium contester? :)
2c. I would *love* to work every rover from every grid in 100 miles.
Especially when I know that once I get their attention, I can work 'em up the
bands. For many reasons, I miss even close-in rovers. Not the one's with
HamIM, though.
By the way, all I've spoken about is "ARRL Contest legality" issues. There are
strategy issues that come into play that I'll talk about shortly. They help to
mitigate many things. Stay tuned if you're interested. That discussion may
help to remove much of the "mystery" and "misunderstandings".
Ev, W2EV
____________________________________________________________________________________
Got a little couch potato?
Check out fun summer activities for kids.
http://search.yahoo.com/search?fr=oni_on_mail&p=summer+activities+for+kids&cs=bz
_______________________________________________
VHFcontesting mailing list
VHFcontesting@contesting.com
http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/vhfcontesting
|