Glenn,
I'm glad you posted here. I have a few comments about what you have said
but I want to be clear about something first. If I sound harsh, I do not
mean to. I don't like what you are doing one bit, but I don't think it
reflects upon you as a person. With that said, I'm going to discuss some of
this:
First of all, you say that you enjoy roving more than portable and that you
won your category three times. Did you actually win them or did the guy
that assembled the station, paid for the gear, organized the caravan,
coordinated the schedule and did the spreadsheet to figure out when and
where the QSO's happen? You're not doing what the vast majority of rovers
are doing, yet you're scores are put against the rest of us and its just an
absurd situation.
This is why most of us rovers are pretty annoyed with the ARRL right now.
They set up the Unlimited Rover category so you guys could have your fun.
You could demonstrate some amazing feats without being in the same category
as the rest of us. It was a good idea but one that was flawed by allowing
too many rover to rover contacts and the ability of limited rovers to use
the microwave bands.
You made a claim that you "work everybody else first." I am skeptical of
that statement. Are you willing to post your log to back that up? What
percentage of your QSOs were with people outside your group? Were there
any?
A category exists for you guys. You exploited the rules so that you could
dominate 3 categories instead of just one. The ARRL has tacitly approved of
this by their lack of action. I don't like it. I don't blame you, but I
don't like your actions either and I do blame the ARRL for not understanding
the problem.
Finally, don't kid yourself about the number of operators this will affect.
Take a quick look at the logs of the Limited Rovers and you'll see that its
pretty minimal. For the one or two others that will be affected, there is
always the Classic Rover. Besides... anybody who subscribes to this
reflector already knew the band change was coming.
73 and I really do appreciate the fact that you posted here.
Steve
K4GUN/R
On Fri, May 29, 2009 at 1:01 AM, Dave Glenn <glenn.d@ca.rr.com> wrote:
> Actually you lose much more than you would think. In your 10 grid 10 band
> scenario there are over 100 possible combination of grids on 10 bands.
> However many combinations are not possible due to distance or topography.
>
> It all gets down to different strategy works for different areas of the US.
> It is a contest right? The object is to win.
>
> This topic has been beaten to death for years. Questionnaires had been
> passed out a few years ago and a consensus was obtained. The rules
> committee
> seemed to put some in place and ignored others.
>
> As someone who has done both mountain tops and roving (I took first place
> three times) I find roving more fun.
>
> What is really a shame is coming out with a rule change 3 weeks before a
> contest. I am sure there will be many who will not be aware of the change
> much like last year's changes. There are probably those who purchased more
> microwave gear (good for the hobby)to get an edge on the limited category
> who are now left with unusable gear if they still want to compete in that
> category. I thought part of the reason for the contest was to activate the
> more under utilized bands.
>
> No matter what the rules are there will always be a way to optimize your
> score. This is strategy.
>
> By the way, when I go out with Paul N6DN we carry 11 or 12 bands and try to
> work each other everywhere while working everyone else first.
>
> For the last 5 years there have been no mountain top operations in the
> bottom half of the state (CA). So this June I will be on a mountain with 11
> bands.
> The property is owned by a ham who loves the hobby and has gone to great
> lengths to make more bands available to more people. For his good works he
> often gets flamed because of his high scores.
>
> I even had some disparaging remarks made against me when I didn't turn a
> log
> in last Contest. Life sometimes gets in the way and I was not able to get
> my
> log in on time. I did however sponsor a rover plaque knowing how much it
> meant to me when I received my plaques.
>
> So make the rules and lets all play by them and enjoy the hobby.
>
> Dave N6TEB sometimes /R
> 6 through 24GHz DM05 6800 ft. Hope to work you.
>
>
>
>
_______________________________________________
VHFcontesting mailing list
VHFcontesting@contesting.com
http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/vhfcontesting
|