I will take this one since I am one of the SVHFS folks who runs the Fall
Sprints. Since all of the other Sprints (2 Meters and up) are on bands with
relatively restricted range they all use local time. For example, the 2
Meter Sprint starts in the pacific time zone three hours after it starts in
the eastern time zone. I know, there are stations near the boarders between
time zones but that results in a time difference of only one hour and you
have to draw the line somewhere. The 6 meter band on the other hand is
considered more of a DX band. For that reason we want it to start at the
same time everywhere in the world so it uses UTC time (aka Zulu Time). I am
sorry your friend didn't have good luck with the 6 Meter Fall Sprint.
Frankly, it isn't at a very good time of the year for 6 meter propagation
and we have never had a lot of activity in the sprint. We have even talked
about just dropping it or maybe moving it to xmas/new years and calling it a
winter sprint. Any suggestions on how to improve any of the fall sprints
but especially the 6 meter sprint are appreciated.
73
Jim, W4KXY
-----Original Message-----
From: vhfcontesting-bounces@contesting.com
[mailto:vhfcontesting-bounces@contesting.com] On Behalf Of R Johnson
Sent: Saturday, November 03, 2007 5:39 PM
To: vhfcontesting@contesting.com
Subject: [VHFcontesting] 6M Sprint UTC Time Question
I had one of the new Hams in our club express an interest in working 6M.
I suggested that he try the 6M Sprint to get his feet wet and told him not
to expect many QSO's except a few locals.
I had him print and read the rules, make up a log sheet, and set a clock to
UTC.
While he was listening to "dead air" on his dipole he re-read the rules to
kill time.
Couple of day later he asked me a question I couldn't answer.
The question is: If all the other Sprints run from 7 PM to 11 PM local time,
how come the 6M Sprint runs from 2300Z to 0300Z. He figured out that the
West Coast was starting at 4 PM local time while he was starting at 7 PM
local time, giving the West Coast a 3hr daylight advantage over the East
Coast.
I figure is he was smart enough to ask the question, he deserves a fair
answer.
"Just because that's the way rules are" didn't seem quite good enough !!!
TNX es 73
Bob, K1VU
BTW: He made 1 QSO and is looking forward to the JAN VHF Contest. I think
he's hooked.
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