ARRL Rule change Straw man:
I think that several changes need to be made in the General Rules, General Rules for HF, General Rules for VHF, and Contest specific rules.
Why changes to the general and HF rules? I think that the potential abuse of (for example) recruiting packet spotters for dx-peditions needs to be addressed too.
This has a lot in common with the issues on VHF, that is: adding operators to an operation, and not counting them as such.
I came up with a scoring scheme for captive and pack rovers that might work to provide an incentive for them to work others - what do you think?
73,
Bob Naumann W5OV
(ex N5NJ, KR2J, WA2OVE)
3.General Rules:
3.X. An operator is defined as a person who participates in any activities that are focused on increasing the score of any one station.
General Rules for ARRL Contests on bands below 30 MHz (HF)
1.General Rules:
1.X. HF Operator definition:
1.X.1: See General Rule 3.X for All ARRL Contests.
1.X.2 Individuals solicited to and performing activities during a contest focused on increasing the score of any one station must be listed as operators of that station. This rule precludes such activities for all Single Operator categories. Also keep general rule 3.X in mind when considering this type of solicitation.
General Rules for ARRL Contests on Bands Above 50 MHz
1.General Rules:
1.X. VHF Operator definition: See General Rule 3.X for All ARRL Contests.
1.X.1. In multi-operator categories, all licensed personnel involved in assembling the station (for the specific contest being entered), supporting the multi-operator team performing activities such as: obtaining fuel for generators, cooking meals for the team during the contest, coordinating rovers and schedules, and the operators of those rovers are to be listed as operators of the multi-op station. All personnel are considered "affiliated" with the multi-operator station. Non-licensed support personnel may be listed at the discretion of the team leaders.
2.3. Independent Rover:
One or two operators of a single station that moves among two or more grid
squares during the course of a contest and have no affiliation with any other
contest operation..
2.3.1.A rover vehicle may
transport only one station using a single call sign.
2.3.2.A rover may not operate with
more than one call sign.
2.3.3.Rover vehicles must
transport all the equipment, power supplies, and antennas used at each
operating site.
2.3.4.Rovers sign
"rover" on Phone and /R on CW after their call sign.
2.3.5.All Rovers are encouraged to
adopt operating practices that allow as many stations as possible to contact
them.
2.3.6.Rover operators may submit
separate logs for single operator (fixed station) in addition to their rover
entries. Rovers submitting a score for inclusion in a club competition must
also include a secondary summary sheet indicating the portion of the score that
counts for the club score if any of the QSOs
submitted take place outside of their club's territory.
2.X. Captive Rover: One or two operators of a rover station affiliated with one or more multi-operator stations. A captive rovers' focus is on making qsos with their affiliated multi-operator station(s) from inactive or low activity grid squares. Captive rover logs will be evaluated closely for compliance with this rule and to determine proper captive affiliation. For example, a captive rover submits a log and indicates affiliation with one multi-operator station but the log shows that he also exhibited an equivalent focus on another multi-operator station. The log will be reclassified as being affiliated with two multi-operator stations, and therefore will be subject to scoring as described in section 5.X.
2.X.1 Reporting requirements: A multi-operator station must submit a list of their captive rovers to vhfcaptiveroverlist@arrl.org prior to submitting the multi-op log. Each captive rover must submit their entire log by the normal deadline in order for qsos between the rover and the multi-op to count. All multi-op qsos with their affiliated Captive rovers not submitting a log will be disallowed.
2.X.2. Captive rovers must comply with all other rules affecting Rovers.
2.Y. Rover Team: A team of two or more rover stations who coordinate their roving activities separately from any multi-operator station. Each coordinated rover station is considered a team member. Operation of these teams may include the use of grid-circling techniques. These team mambers may not submit entries as a independent rover.
2.Y.1. Rover Team members must comply with all other rules affecting Rovers.
2.4. Multioperator:
2.4.1.Multioperator
(Unlimited): Stations submit logs with more than four bands used + any
captive rovers.
2.4.2.Limited Multioperator: Stations submit logs with a maximum of
four bands used + any captive rovers. (Logs from additional bands used, if any,
should be included as checklogs.)
5.X. Captive Rover scoring:
5.X.1 QSOS made between captive rovers and an affiliated multioperator station will count as 1 point for the multi-op, and 1 point for the rover regardless of frequency used.
5.X.2 QSOS made between Captive Rovers and other Captive Rovers that are affiliated with the same multi-operator station will count as 1 point for each captive rover regardless of frequency used.
5.X.3 QSOs made with stations other than their affiliated multi-operator station or captive rovers are scored at 2X the standard point value for the frequency used.
5.X.4 Each captive rovers' final score will be added to the multi-operator stations' final score and will be listed as a separate components of the multi-operator stations' score. If a rover is affiliated with more than one multi-operator station, its score will be equally divided between those multi-operator stations. For example, if a captive rover is affiliated with three multi-operator stations, each multi-operator station will receive one third of the captive rovers' score.
5.Y. Rover Team scoring: QSOS made between members of the same team count as 1 point regardless of frequency used.
5.Y.2 QSOs made with stations other than members of their own team are scored at 2X the standard point value.