Not sure what you really GAIN by removing 6 meters from the pool of
bands in the contest as a whole. I can't imagine that a contester would
complain about a band being too crowded... in addition to the digital
modes, CW is another way to escape the elbow bumping you'll run into on
SSB above 50.120... CW filters are wonderfully effective in this
instance, which is something HF contesters can attest to. Perhaps an
SSB filter too?
There was a comment that once 6 opens, all other bands are pointless...
I strongly disagree! This is where SO2R (or SOxR, where x=number of
bands) skills can make or break your points tally and your sanity.
Also, 6 meter Es openings can coincide with tropo on other bands, as
mentioned on this distribution a few days ago.
There's a balance of discipline and strategy that must be struck to keep
6 meters from being your only band in the contest, if that's a real
problem for you. You need discipline to know when and how to pay
attention to those other bands and get the needed grids and Qs there,
and strategy to know when to kick your discipline in high gear. This is
one of the unique challenges of VHF/UHF contesting that you don't get to
experience much of on HF. HF is, relatively speaking, very predictable
-- the band(s) will open up SOMEWHERE to produce more Qs.... not the
case always on V/U contesting. The Magic Band opens and closes all over
the place quickly, conditions change very rapidly. So if you're in the
points game, you're ahead to dedicate a radio to 6 meters to monitor
conditions and quickly pounce on the mults as they fade in and out, and
use your multi-band super box or even some cheap eBay FT-290RII (or
equivalent -- 100% ham radio = 90% antenna, 9% operator, 1% radio) to
cover 2 meters ++ (or as mentioned above, dedicate a radio to each band!).
Of course, the ultimate in discipline would be to voluntarily forgo 6
meters during a June event -- replace the hole in your rover's op table
with a 5.7GHz rig, or something like that. This is for those of us
(myself included) who aren't competitive players necessarily, but really
just enjoy an opportunity to run to a hilltop, break out the radios and
hear the normally dismal bands come to life! It's these types of events
that thus re-affirm our investment and commitment to life above 50MHz,
in spite of those HF-only guys' looks of confusion when we talk about
great openings 500 miles away.
Let's examine for a moment the reason 6 is in the pool... as a VHF
band. It's crowded because Es works very well on that band. Sometimes,
Es works very well on 2 meters... if we get a massive Es cloud that
enhances 2 meters all contest long, do we start calls to exclude it from
the pool? I wouldn't think so. Maybe if 10 meters were remarkably
dull, we could include it in the contest??? Equally unlikely.
So it's my humble editorial thesis that the 6 meter band is that 900lb
gorilla of VHF contesting. And we already have a contest in August that
takes care of the 6 meter problem. When that time comes around, I'll
see YOU on 222!
73,
- Josh Arritt / KF4YLM
EM97ui
John AA5JG wrote:
> Heck, in many parts of the country (like SW Oklahoma) you are lucky to find
> someone on 432 to work, much less the microwave bands. Removing 6m from the
> June contest would probably kill the contest, and at the same time, we are
> agonizing over how to increase participation, not lower it.
>
> 73s John AA5JG
>
>
> ---------- Original Message ----------------------------------
> From: "Gregg Seidl" <k9kl@centurytel.net>
> Date: Wed, 18 Jun 2008 14:42:31 -0500
>
>
>> You're kidding right??!!
>> Yes the microwave bands are fun,but you need someone else to talk to.In
>> some parts of the country there isn't enough activity for some to justifiy
>> the cost and tower space of the microwave bands.
>> Count me OUT of all vhf/uhf contests if you think that is a good idea!!
>> Gregg K9KL
>>
>>
>>
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