Hello, fellow VHF Contesters-
I'd like to thank Jon W0ZQ for stepping in and answering some of the
questions posed recently. I thought it was time for me to step in and
reiterate and/or clarify a couple points:
1) As Jon and others have pointed out, contest rules have been
subdivided for reasons primarily based on available space in print
publications. As this is no longer a concern for the web site, I am very
much interested in printing all rules for each individual contest, even
if some of those rules overlap and apply to several contests. This will
take some time, but this will be implemented along with other general
changes to the look and feel of the Contest area of arrl.org.
2) Here is some clarification on the new Rover rules:
a) There are now THREE classes of rovers: Rover, Limited Rover,
and Unlimited Rover.
b) Unlimited Rover scores WILL NOT COUNT towards Club
Competition. The VUAC and the Programs and Services Committee agreed on
this provision to the Unlimited Rover category.
c) The new Rover rules WILL be in place for the 2008 January VHF
contest. We realize this does not give software developers much time to
generate new categories for their logging programs. Since there is no
difference to how rovers are scored, use whatever method of logging you
prefer, but be sure to indicate what Rover category you want to enter.
If you use electronic logging, simply add your specific Rover category
to your "Soapbox" lines in your Cabrillo file, and we will catch it. If
you use paper logs, simply list your rover category on the official
summary sheet. We hope that the software developers will be able to
provide updated logging tools that reflect the new categories by the
2008 June VHF contest.
3) It was stated in an earlier thread that some VHF'ers are afraid of
some stations operating more than four bands, then picking the four most
productive bands and entering in the Limited Multioperator or Limited
Rover category. While this is acceptable practice, it is NOT acceptable
for the station to eliminate the QSOs from their logs for the bands they
choose not to make part of their official entry; that creates the
possibility of false "Not In Log" QSOs, and could impose an unfair
penalty for stations legitimately worked in such a scenario.
ALL logs MUST include ALL QSOs made during the contest period. You must
then tell us what bands you are submitting for your official entry.
Failure to do this may result in your log being reviewed by the Awards
Committee for possible disciplinary action, which could lead to
disqualification.
I hope this clears up some of the confusion that has been bandied about
on the reflector recently. While I am still learning the bounds of my
authority as Contest Manager, it is important to understand that I am
NOT the sole authority on rules changes. My role is primarily that of
"referee," and there are certain situations that I do not get a vote in;
this is a built-in set of check and balances that I am quite comfortable
with. I have a voice in the interpretation of rules; I do not have the
authority to make new rules by myself, such as new entry categories in
any given contest.
Here's hoping I get to work some of you in the January contest. I am
always just a phone call or email away...if you have a question, comment
or constructive criticism, I am at your service.
73,
Sean Kutzko, KX9X
ARRL Contest Branch Manager
225 Main St.
Newington, CT 06111
(860) 594-0232
skutzko@arrl.org
*************
Jon W0ZQ wrote:
"Towards Joe's question as to where to find contest rules, they can be
found
on the ARRL's website at http://www.arrl.org/ . Once there, toward the
top left click on "Operating Activities", "Contests", "Rules". Once
you
are to this page, note at the top the links for "General Rules" and "VHF
Rules". For all ARRL contests, including HF as well as VHF, there are
three levels of rules : General Rules, VHF Rules, and Contest Specific
Rules (ex: January VHF). One advantage of this rule structure is that
rules that are common throughout all the contests do not have to be
repeated over and over again in the contest specific rules. One
disadvantage of this structure is that someone may read only the contest
specific rules and think that's all there is. Anyway, that is where
you
will find them .... they are not hidden nor do you need a secret
handshake to access them.
As has been pointed out, from time to time there is some spirited (ie,
good) discussion about the interpretation of these rules .... our ARRL
Contest Manager, Sean, KX9X, gets the final word. My experience is
that
our past and present Contest Managers have been very accessible and
quick
to respond to any questions that are asked of them. Sean's email is
kx9x@arrl.org and sometimes a simple email to him is better than 100
emails
on a reflector. They are there to help us so we should use them.
Onto topic # 2. To help address the unlimited rover scoring question,
as
the Dakota VUAC rep., I can say that based upon internal discussion
within your VUAC and with our ARRL Liaison, that this was a translation
error that
will be corrected. Unlimited rover scores do not count in club
scoring.
I defer to KX9X, but this is my understanding .... the rules on the ARRL
website will get updated to reflect this.
Topic # 3. I use a TM-255a as an IF rig on 5.7 and 10 GHz. One of
the
problems that I am having is that it has low output power on SSB. For
example, using CW or FM modes, if I set its 2m output power to 2 watts,
when I whistle into the mic on SSB I also get 2 watts, but when I speak
my SSB voice peaks are way way down, like about 300mW or so. Even
shouting into the mic does not bring the power level up, but a pure tone
whistle
does. I did change the microphone - same results. I also played
around
with the software controls for the mic drive without any results. Its
like the audio circuit AGC is to aggressive. Has anyone else seen this
on
their TM-255 and/or have any suggestions ? When I use it on 5.7 and 10
GHz, the result is that I get full output power on CW/FM, but reports of
weak signals on SSB.
73, Jon
W0ZQ"
*******
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