As I have posted earlier, I don't think that banning rovers who grid
circle from competition is the right answer. I understand that you do
not wish to compete with them.
Look at the soapbox for the 10 GHz contest. Most of the participants
in that contest benefit from cooperation of other portable stations,
or what has been called pack roving at VHF. Why is there no outcry
against this mode of operation in the 10 GHz contest? Indeed, why is
it the preferred method of operating in those contests?
It is because the scoring in those contests is such that there is no
benefit to grid circling and because everybody in the contest benefits
from the pack's actions.
You get 100 points for an initial contact with a station. You get a
point for every 1 kilometer of distance between you and the station
you work. Move a minimum distance and you can work everybody all over
again. Sum up the points to get the total score. There are no
multipliers. The exchange is the 6 digit Maidenhead grid square. There
is no incentive to grid circle. There is a minimum QSO distance
specified of 1 kilometer. There is no limit on the maximum number of
QSOs one can have with other rovers.
Rovers that travel in a pack get the 100 points for working each other
and a point or two for the distance. They all get points for working
other home stations or other rovers in other locations. Everybody
benefits. A home station can point his beam at one heading and work
several stations.
The VHF/UHF contests could be structured the same way. The VUAC should
recommend to the board that at least the UHF contest be structured
this way as an experiment.
There are other scoring methods that effectively dilute the impact of
grid circling. Minimum QSO distances are one. Time spent in a grid are
another. Having all QSO points the same for all bands is another.
I think that we need to get away from having the rules and scoring in
all of the VHF/UHF contests the same. Emphasizing different objectives
for different contests would seem to be a good thing. - Duffey
--
KK6MC
James Duffey
Cedar Crest NM
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