In a message dated 6/29/08 8:00:14 PM Eastern Daylight Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED]
writes:
> FD is not a contest....it is an operating event.
I would say "FD is not *just* a contest" or "Contesting is only one aspect of
FD".
Like Amateur Radio itself, there are many ways of doing FD, some of which are
very different from others. Some groups take scoring very seriously, others
don't think much of it and it's more of a social event. Some are very into the
publicity angle, or the emergency-preparedness thing, or the
training-less-experienced-hams part.
I don't think the League even likes to rank
> station that participate as to who made how many points.
If you look up the scores database, that's how results are sorted (high score
to low). Same in the QST report.
>If FD allowed multipliers (rather than mode points) then we would have a
contest.
The FD multipliers are for power level. A QRP-battery QSO can be worth 5
times the points of a QRO QSO, or 2.5 times the points of a "low-power" QSO.
>FD rules are so loose you can change your class at anytime.
Only in a very limited way (number of transmitters), and only for specific
reasons.
For example, if a club started out with three transmitters (3A) but then
somebody showed up with a fourth and lots of folks to put it on the air, they
could reclass themselves as 4A. Or if they could not get one rig working at
all,
they could reclass themselves as 2A *if* they'd never had three rigs on the air
at once.
> It would be interesting to see how many vertical and dipole antennas were
> used this year.
We used a Windom and two G5RVs. Squalos and verticals for VHF/UHF. Yes there
are better antennas but the resources needed to put them up and take them down
are considerable.
> FD is about training (both in technical and operating) skills.
I would add "practical radio" to that as well. Theory is one thing, getting
something to work in the real world is another. I was never a Boy Scout but I
learned a heckuva lot about knots and handling lines on FD.
Random comments:
1) Send in your entry, no matter how insignificant it may seem. Log entries
are "votes" in a very real sense.
2) If there is something you want to see changed in the rules, suggest it in
a specific way to ARRL. For example, you might want sections to count as
multipliers on HF, grid squares on VHF/UHF. If so, *tell the ARRL contest
folks*!
3) While the memory (and the bug bites, sunburn, poison ivy and aches/pains
are still fresh, write down what you learned this year. What worked and what
didn't, what you'd do the same and what you'd change. Put those notes in a
folder marked "FD 2009". Trust me, it's a big help for next year!
73 de Jim, N2EY
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