Thank-you To The Contesters

[ve3ii]

To all stations that participated in the ARRL International DX Contest (March 1-2, 2003).

On behalf of the Maritime Mobile Service Network (MMSN), which operates daily from 1200z to 0200z on 14.300 mhz, I would like to thank all of you for giving us breathing room this past weekend.

Your courtesy and awareness of our important work on 14.300 made the weekend almost as any other. It was hard to believe that a major contest was in-progress.

73 to you all.....

Tom Ve3II
A/Mgr. MMSN

[WM5L]

I hardly ever check in but I listen to the MMSN when traveling long distances in west Texas. You guys have a good thing going for the boater or traveler with HF. It has helped many a ham over the years when in need of assistance...Jim/WM5L

Just shows that good hams still do operate - and the 14,300 net is a VERY excellent net. I've used it several times when traveling for keeping a schedule with friends and getting msgs passed to folks back home.

Thanks to all hams who avoided 14,300 to allow this net to continue it's important work.

Ken H>
K9FV

[n0ov]

</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote (KenH @ Mar. 03 2003,06:20)</td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">Just shows that good hams still do operate - and the 14,300 net is a VERY excellent net. #I've used it several times when traveling for keeping a schedule with friends and getting msgs passed to folks back home.

Thanks to all hams who avoided 14,300 to allow this net to continue it's important work.

Ken H>
K9FV[/QUOTE]<span id='postcolor'>
Bravo!

[WD4AOG]

Contest operators being courteous? #Sorry I missed that. #I'm still smarting from being forced out of my in-progress SSTV QSO when a contest fired up a few months ago. #Perhaps there is hope for peaceful coexistence after all. #I hope so. #Courtesy on the air goes a long way with me and I try to return the favor.

73
Michael

[w7nb]

I too was pleased with the behavior of the contest folks last weekend. While ragchewing with a friend in CA on 20 meters we actually had a Guatamala station stop in and politely ask if he could log little US! We both gave 5/9's, and he even took a moment to tell us about where he lived.

Be kinda fun to have an international rag chewers contest - I might even get to know a few of our fellow hams in other countries by more than "5/9 1 KW"

[W1RFI]

</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote (ve3ii @ Mar. 01 2003,18:13)</td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">To all stations that participated in the ARRL International DX Contest (March 1-2, 2003).

On behalf of the Maritime Mobile Service Network (MMSN), which operates daily from 1200z to 0200z on 14.300 mhz, I would like to thank all of you for giving us breathing room this past weekend.

Your courtesy and awareness of our important work on 14.300 made the weekend almost as any other. #It was hard to believe that a major contest was in-progress. #

73 to you all.....

Tom Ve3II
A/Mgr. MMSN[/QUOTE]<span id='postcolor'>
Tom, I suggest that you write that up and send it to QST, for consideration in Correspondence. Send it to qst@arrl.org. I cannot speak for the editor, but if you send a cc to me, w1rfi@arrl.org, I will tell the editor why I recommended it. I think that this kind of positive consideration by the contest community merits widespread recognition.

73,
Ed Hare, W1RFI

[kb3cbo]

I Just wanted to say thank you for saying that. Most people say contesters are horrible, and they take up all the frequency's during a ocntest. I just wanted to say thank you for that, from a fellow contester, 73's de Ed Moyer ab3ah

[ag4hy]

great to hear someone having something good to say about a division of our hobby. http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif
whoa hold on i'm not talking about it being divided, just, well like the military service, a part of, ie, division,
contest does not bother me at all. i can find another place, ham bands are to wide to let it be kill, be killed sort of thing, hey that is why we have so much to do. always something to try.
thank you for giving an important net some breathing room.
ag4hy

I really must agree with W1RFI and most of the others who have replied. This kind of behavior on the bands (allowing some breathing room around frequencies of particular interest even during major contests) must be promoted. Remember the first statement in the Amateur Code: "CONSIDERATE... never knowingly operates in such a way as to lessen the pleasure of others". (As quoted from the ARRL Handbook, 79th edition, 2002.)

I have got a taste for contest operation myself thanks to the Nordic Activity Contest, which I have been active in a few months now. I don't have HF privileges - yet - but I suppose that by the time I get those, I just might give one of the more international contests a try, too. I can't speak for anyone else of course, but will certainly not knowingly occupy a well established frequency of an often frequented net.

Contests are a good time to push the limits of one's equipment. Let's also push the limits of the operator's good manners, and leave breathing room for fellow non-contesters. Not everyone have the WARC bands, and propagation isn't always in one's favor, either.