Saturday, August 18, 2007

VHF Contest Survey -N5AC

Steve N5AC recently completed a survey of amateur radio operators about their thoughts on VHF contesting. The results are now published on the web at http://www.n5ac.com/VHFSurvey.pdf

In the forward of the document, Steve writes:

I love VHF and microwave contesting and I know many of those that read this feel the same. And although I’ve only been doing it a few years, I’ve formed some strong opinions about what I like and don’t like and even how I think others should behave while contesting. But why is this — why can’t we all just have fun? As I tried to understand what I took issue with and why others had issues, I came to realize that even though we are all “playing together,” we are each playing for different reasons and with different goals. Some want to accumulate band-grids for VUCC and the contest, itself, is not terribly important. Others are in a dead heat in their category trying to beat out known opponents. Personally, I enjoy working long, difficult microwave shots with my friends, but I like to see a high score at the end of the day too. And all of these different goals and many others combined with how we were trained as operators, our local culture and our personalities all affect our on-air behaviors and how we operate a contest.

If you have an interest in VHF contesting, this survey report is good reading.

73, Bob K0NR

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