Hello again to the VHF contesters on the list....
A month or so ago when I posted my first thoughts on this, I made a
point of following a careful definition of what constitutes a valid VHF
contact. Ron, W4WA, has elicited several responses on this on this
reflector on this matter. It is clear that this idea needs to be
revisited carefully. We need to have a standard and we need to follow
it. If the VHF community wants to permit contacts like those done in HF
contests, that is OK, we just all need to be sure of exactly what is the
correct procedure.
In the HF world, the following is accepted procedure:
ME: CQ CQ K5QE K5QE over
DX: W1XYZ
ME: W1XYZ EM31
DX: ROGER FN10 FN10 -- Sometimes this is just abreviated to FN10 FN10
ME: QRZ Contest from K5QE over
It is clear that several elements of Tilton's Rule for a valid VHF
contact are missing here. I never received my call from W1XYZ and he
never received a ROGER from me. If the abbreviated version of line 4 is
employed, then I never got a ROGER from the DX station.
A much better version of this is:
ME: CQ CQ K5QE K5QE over
DX: K5QE W1XYZ
ME: W1XYZ K5QE EM31
DX: ROGER FN10 FN10
ME: ROGER QRZ Contest from K5QE over (Variations: ROGER ROGER QRZ from
K5QE over and ROGER your FN10, QRZ from K5QE over)
Here, W1XYZ has given my call, and I have given him a ROGER. I believe
that the required elements are all here. W1XYZ his given both calls, a
grid, and a ROGER. I have given the same information. It looks like we
have added about 3 sec to the entiere contact time. I realize that when
6M is wide open for hours and hours, this procedure will cause a few
less contacts to be made in an hour. There are some advantges here
too....The DX station has given my call and I have given my call as part
of the exchange. That allows other stations to know who I am and to get
ready to work me. Don't you just hate it when you hear an HF station
running stations like crazy and he does not give his call for a very
long time(or that fact that he is actually listening up 20KHz!!!).
I believe that this is the correct form for a VHF contact, but I am not
trying to "force" this particular version on anyone. What I believe we
need to do, is for the community to carefully consider this problem and
to come up with a "standard procedure" that we can all follow. We can
agree that the HF form is acceptable when 6M is wide open and you are
working stations like crazy. We can also agree that this form is not
acceptable on 2M and up where huge runs don't normally occur and things
are more "leisurely". We can agree that Tilton's Rule must be followed
carefully on schedules. We can agree on whatever we want as long as
everyone is on the same page.
Personally, I would like to see Tilton's Rule upheld. For historical
and practical reasons, it is a good definition of what constitutes a
valid contact. Tilton's Rule has served us well in the past. It is
interesting that the MS and EME folks(digital and CW) are VERY strict on
these things. If you don't get all the required elements, it is not a
contact. ANECDOTE: When I was in Oklahoma City in the late 70's, I had
49 states worked and was running with RI for my WAS. I thought that the
contact was complete and I called the other station on the phone after
about 10 min of RRR, RRR, RRR. He told me that he did not have my ROGER
and that since we had talked on the phone, we would now have to start
over. I was heartbroken over this as the moon had gone beyond my
window. I never got RI from OKC and I still need that state for a
non-digital WAS on 2M. For want of a single R, my 2M WAS was
lost--however, the guy on the other end was just following the correct
procedure. He did everything right--he just needed a better set of
ears...HI.
As on my previous posts, rational thoughtful comments are appreciated.
Flames -----> bit bucket. I must compliment everyone on their
thoughtful replies to the previous issues. Keep it up guys!!
73 Marshall K5QE
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