On Jul 26, 2008, at 8:28 AM, k4gun@comcast.net wrote:
> Perhaps it would help to get an idea what other rovers are doing as
> far as contacts with other rovers. In June, I made 251 QSOs. Of
> those, 13 were with other rovers. This was as a Limited Rover.
> That's just over 5% of my total QSO count.
>
> I would be very curious to hear what the others are doing. Those of
> you who have more experience than me, what is the absolute maximum
> number of times you could imagine contacting other rovers without
> going as part of a group? What is your log showing? Is it 10 to 20
> percent? Am I low?
>
> Steve
> K4GUN/R
EXTREMELY hard to quantify other than to just show you my numbers for
out here in Rocky Mtn Division, Steve. (For 2006 & 2007. I couldn't
rove this year in June.) I can e-mail you the logs off-list if you
want them. I have nothing to hide.
Generally speaking, the very low numbers of operators anywhere else
other than VHF/UHF out here means that working the few multi-ops who
have all bands, and the few rovers who do also, might mean on one
band, I might have a particular rover at 50%, whereas on 6m, 2m, 70cm,
they'd be a piddly part of the overall stations worked. If 6m opens
here, I'm squarely in the category of rover who makes LOTS of contacts
and my percentages of locals worked, drops. If 6m sucks, someone
could look at my numbers and make up all sorts of evil made-up reasons
why I only worked 10 people -- just because of our demographics and
wide-open spaces.
I can guarantee that one of those years above, the only mode one of
the rovers had was 927 FM. I worked him. He worked me. Every time
we switched grid squares. We traveled together for one day in 2006,
and worked each other as we crossed grid lines. On day two, he went
the "reverse way" around Denver, and I only got him at a grid line
once. It's just "normal" out here for rovers.
In those years, I never heard anyone else anywhere near 927 FM, but I
worked a few multi-ops on 902 and 903 SSB of course. The total number
of callsigns in my logs for 900 MHz that year is something like five.
And I won the rover category in the Division. That's how sparse the
upper bands are out here. You win by adding bands, and that's
expensive. Ultimately, it's silly. If you don't enjoy taking a ton
of radios out and playing with your skills and radios in the middle of
nowhere, you
Some of Gene's "ethics" comments in "The World Above 50 MHz" recently
in QRZ were a bit troubling to me here... many of the practices he
claims are unethical are VERY common out here in no-man's land.
Helping someone else through a microwave contact with a liason
frequency is almost the letter of the law out here, not something we
would easily shun... because we're trying to make spending all the
money and time putting more bands together FUN for people.
Whereas "back East" (or perhaps even "out West") where you're all
overcrowded and grumpy -- helping another two stations make a
microwave contact via a liason frequency and even TELLING THE GUY
WHERE TO POINT is probably severely taboo. Guess what? We do that
out here.
And here's another "ethical" reason why: My personal ethics dictate
to me that I should be a courteous, helpful Amateur Radio operator
FIRST before being a big bad-ass contester. Wanna take away my awards
for that? Go for it. I don't care.
I'll relate a REAL example here with call-signs removed to protect the
innocent:
Rover is out working 10 GHz. Two multi-ops are trying to work the
rover. One finds him (off-frequency a bit) and offers to point at
other multi-op and transmit on the same frequency the rover is on, so
the other multi-op can find the rover. Illegal? I don't know.
Unethical? I don't know. Do we care? Not in the slightest.
YES... we help each other out here. And guess what? We'll probably
continue to do so, no matter what some guy says in a QST article. (I
respect Gene's article reminding us all of the ethics involved, but
he's not here, and we're not there.)
Anyone who wants to can DQ me, if they don't like it. I don't care.
It just means I have a weekend or two a year, and hundreds of dollars
in fuel money back, to do something else more fun. Fun is my limus
test for this stuff... if it ain't fun, I'm not going out.
The fun comes (out here anyway) in openings to amazing places while
you're working the same 10 guys you've worked in every contest for
years. 6m openings are interesting, but normal. 2m openings are far
more interesting... "That's Pensacola, FL on 2m 30 dB over S9 on a 13-
element beam on SSB?! You've GOT to be kidding. Pull out that
headphone jack, I gotta hear that!"
222 and 432 and on up openings? Truly amazing stuff.
I have GOT to get my mobile WSJT running and learn what the hell I'm
doing with it before next year... I'm sure I'll just sit there stunned
at what I'm working with bands that "shouldn't do that!".
Anyone bored with VHF+ contesting isn't trying hard enough to be amazed.
Beat your personal best, have fun, and help other people have fun
too. Seems pretty simple, but a whole lot of over-competitive jerks
in contests just don't get it. You seem to be doing fine, since
you're here asking interesting questions about your own performance
versus the "norm".
Wish I had a better answer for you about those percentages, but I'm
not sure it would be very enlightening. Perhaps you can find a rover
in your area who's won before who hasn't lost the "helping" spirit
who'd share their logs or numbers with you. I think if you compare
too heavily outside of your home area, you're going to find that
conditions and operating practices are quite different.
--
Nate Duehr, WY0X
nate@natetech.com
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