There has always been a struggle between hams who want the rules kept
simple, like my friend Hans:
> I like simple answers, and the above
> is a simple answer.
and hams who want things better defined in the rules, like my friend Jim:
> Rules should be solid and there should be
> one set for everyone. Sponsors should
> work hard to define good rules and enforce
> them as best they can.
As a point of reference, I thought I would do a comparison:
I counted the words in the ARRL's SS contest rules = 1267 plus the words in
the "General Rules" = 2816 plus the words in the "HF rules" = 578. This
results in a total outside maximum of 4661 words devoted to Sweepstakes
rules by the sponsor, counting the ancillary helpful documents. All us OT's
know that any contest's rules used to wind up on a single page of QST.
I then looked at some of the other things amateur activities radiosport has
been likened to over the years:
Motorcycle Racing: 42 pages, 13,625 words
Bowling: 73 pages, 24,659 words
Competitive Aerobatics: 80 pages, 26,925 words
Bicycle racing: 142 pages, 37,953 words
Sailboat Racing: 174 pages, 39,200 words
Sportscar Racing: 580 pages, wordcount barfed
once again:
Sweepstakes rules: 3 pages, 4661 words
I suggest, as amateur weekend warrior activities go, we are somewhat
under-regulated. I don't mean to suggest we should have 80 pages of rules
and 30,000 words, but doubling our current rules would allow us to make a
significant dent in the ambiguity that has plagued us for decades. It's not
like these conversations are anything new. All it takes is one Adam Henry
to ruin a Gentlemen's Agreement.
73 - Mark, N5OT
PDFs of these organizations were downloaded, opened, the text selected,
copied into a word processor, and the word count routine run on the
resulting documents:
Oregon Motorcycle Racing Association
World Tenpin Bowling Association
Australian Aerobatics Club
United States Cycling Federation
International Sailing Federation
Sports Car Club of America
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