Contesting On Ham Radio

Contesting On Ham Radio

I appreciate that this is a very old debate and a tender point for the majority of amateurs today.  The issue that I want you to consider is not whether contesting has a place in amateur radio but rather how contesting effects non-contest stations.  I want you to also consider if there is a compromise that could be reached by the contest sponsors, namely CQ magazine and the ARRL.  

First, let me say that I am by no means anti-contest.  I have participated in the Field Day Contest since before I was a licenced amateur, some 32 years ago, but that’s another story.  I have certificates on my walls from contests in which I have participated and I continue to contest from time to time.  In my opinion, contests are as much a part of amateur radio as rag chewing and the National Traffic System.  

The purpose of this article is to attempt to effect a change in the way that the contests are structured, so that all amateurs, on all bands, can co-exist during a contest weekend.  

After a contest weekend, CQ Magazine or the ARRL must get flooded with complaints about some guy causing QRM on a frequency or about the way a contest participant was operating and how broad he was.  The contest sponsors admit that they get a lot of complaints but the same thing happens again after the next major contest.  I would think that after the number of years that the sponsors have been holding these contests, they might begin to recognize a pattern and take some action.  However, nothing ever happens and the arrogance and flagrant operating by some contesters continues.  

Now, the sponsors do publish contest rules and they do, under the disqualification section, state that all participants must operate according to their countries rules and regulations.  I wonder how many contesters have been disqualified for QRM’ing an occupied frequency.   You know the type, the ones that operate 100 cycles away from a QSO and, when asked to please QSY, they continue operating with the gain up a lot more.  

Let’s face it, the amateur bands are very crowded places these days and the present structure of the major contests is antiquated and needs to be reviewed and changed.
 
Consider the percentage of amateurs worldwide who actually participate in one of these major events.  I would wager that the number would be below 5 percent.  Why then are the non-contest stations forced to give-up their normal routines to accommodate the contest?  Yes, the bands are shared and no one has a claim on a frequency.  But it seems just a little perplexing to me why 20 meter phone is hijacked away from everyone by a contest.  

I propose that the contest sponsors amend the contest rules to allow for a section of the band to be out-of-bounds for contesting.  My initial thought would be the top 100 kc/s on 80/40 meters and the top 50 kc/s on 20, 15 and 10 meters.  Obviously, this can be finalized later.  But you get the idea.  

Now, I can predict my email inbox will fill-up quickly from angry contesters blasting me about “How dare I tread into their domain” and the like.  Well, it is my domain.  I am a contester and proud of it.  But, in fairness to the non-contesters and all the public service nets on the bands, there has to be a compromise.  Our right to contest does not negate the right for a net to operate.  

This proposal would accomplish two things.  It would give the non-contest stations a place of refuge, away from the contest.  It would also give an added spice to the contest by narrowing the operating band and forcing sharper skills, which is the whole purpose of having a contest, isn’t it?  

The sponsors that I have written to about this just shrug it off as me being a whiner.  Well, I’ll bet there are a few more “whiners” out there who probably feel the same way.  The sponsors also say that they can’t do it.  Sure they can.  All they have to do is write it into THEIR contest rules.  They sponsor the contest so they call the shots and say how it’s to be run.  All they have to say is “…this contest will operate between 14.150 MHz and 14.297 MHz.”  Period.  There’s no Act of Congress required, just that line in the rules.  What’s the big deal?

Please feel free to write to CQ Magazine and/or the ARRL about a contest-free zone amendment to the contest rules.  Tell them that their presnt sturcture is not working and to change the rules.  

It can be done.  It should be done for the benefit of all amateur radio operators.  

Tom VE3II

 

I agree. Keep some space free of contests on all bands, not just the WARC bands.

 

The "rag chewers" should be thankful that most of the "contesters" are on the air only during
contest weekends instead of on almost every day or night as the "rag chewers" are.  Instead
of chaos approximately one weekend per month, there would be chaos every day and every
night if the contesters decided to qso as much as the "rag chewers" do.  
Share and share alike!  Let the "contesters" have their 10 to 20 percent of time on the
air as compared to the "rag chewers" 80 to 90 percent time.  Besides, the interference caused by
the the "contesters" on occassional weekends gives the "ragchewers" more to complain and cry
about every night of the week.  59-04, 59-04, 59-04

 

ADDED COMMENT ---
The rag chewers refuge could be the WARC bands as contesting is banned by the rules there.
"Contesters" have VFO's. Do "ragchewers" have VFO's?

 

Tom you are absolutely right! But unfortunately there is not a (word that we cannot use on the air) thing we can do about it.

Let's face it contests are about ego and money. some guys want to be winners and in this case money can be a deciding factor. That money is, of course spent on ham radio equipment, which then pays for the ads in CQ and QST. Nothing wrong with any of that. Contesters may be a small (or medium size) proportion of hams, but I will bet they spend **much** more moola than non-contesters. So the ARRL and CQ are not going to tick off the contest crowd anytime soon by "restricting their freedom." However if they would be good neighbors they could make some simple (as Tom pointed out) rule changes that would make contest weekends more liveable for those who are not participating.

The off limits frequencies is a good and simple start. Now, how about a power divider/multiplier. If we took some of these pinball scores that the rules create and divided by the number of watts used, that would make QRP operation look much more feasible! In fact a QRPer could well be the overall winner. Someone who is good in math could certainly devise a scale where 100 watts is a multiplier of "1" and power beyond that acts as a divider, lowering that station's score. Anything below 100 watts acts as a multiplier. That would really help the QRM!

How about rolling blackout times? In contests that last more than (say) 12 or 24 hours one portion of the group has to go QRT for an hour or two. Hey guys, take a break! Get some sleep! For example in the CQWW your timezone goes QRT for an hour, at the end of the hour the next one does, etc. In a 48 hour contest you have 2 QRT hours. That might mean that here in NA you might find a usable frequency for a couple of hours for something other than contesting. This also evens the playing field a bit as the really big stations can't just camp on a frequency for all 48 hours calling CQ and seeing who can hear them now...

There are probably many other simple rule changes that would make contests and their participants better neighbors, but because of the money thing we won't be seeing them anytime soon.....unless you write the ARRL and cancel your membership over their contest sponsorship. Cancel your CQ subscription. If enough people did that the rules would change...but I'm afraid neither one is going to happen.

Bill, WB2TLQ
Wausau, WI

ps I don't subscribe to CQ and I don't belong to ARRL and their over reporting of the competitive aspects of ham radio are among my reasons.

 

I agree totally with the idea of restricting the bandwith for
contesting. I'm a weekend ham. I work during the week. I have
things to do during the weekday evenings that keep me away from
the radio. The only time I have is the weekends. I like DX on 10 and 15m.
The number of weekends I've been shutdown this year because of
one contest or another is frustrating to the point of giving up altogether.
If its not high A and K numbers ruining the weekend for me, its
yet another blah blah 59 this 59 that blankity blank contest.
Why don't these guys just go play golf or something !?!
What are we learning from these contests? Are we extending the
art and science of radio? Or just puffing up some high testosterone
egos.
Sorry. I get carried away on this subject.

 

I aggree with the previous statements that nothing is going to change in the near future and that this debate has been raging for a long time, but I would like to add my two cents. I do like to rag chew on weekends and I don't appreciate the bands being pre-empted by contesters. 17 and 12 meters are both small and are not really substitutes for 40 and 20. But what really bothers me is the way the two differents groups' views has divided ham radio. I simply find something else to do during the weekend of the contest because rag-chewing is simple more trouble than it is worth. I have plenty of construction jobs going on in my shack. What I especially don't like is the atmosphere on the bands during the contest. To listen to the frenzied way that some of the operaters are acting you would think there was a million dollar reward for the winner. But I admit I probably feel that way because I am not part of it and am not getting caught up in the excitement of the moment. So even though I have negative feelings about the contests and think that maybe they have got out of control, I'm still thinking in terms of tolerance and am willing to give way to the contest crowd. I hope the contest people will show some consideration for me

 

Hello All
First I will say I am a contester ( or will be again once I get all the antenna work done) and I have to say that contests only mess up the bands a few weekends out of the year. I went though one of the contest calendars and noted all of the major contests.
There are 21 major  contests a year and 4 of those are sprints which are only 4 hour contests which leaves the rest of the weekend free. So that would make 19 weekends that the bands are in full use ( and most are either CW or Phone contest so you could work the other mode). That leaves 33 weekends a year for rag chews and DX BTW there are more DX stations on the air during a contest than the other weekends. So I can't see any truth that contests mess the bands most of the time and non contesters can't find any time to operate.


Non contest windows just don't work it has been tried in several contests and it has failed everytime. Rolling blackouts will not work either and off times only apply to single op enteries.

Now my gripe is that non contesters complain that they can't rag chew or DX during a contest but on non contest weekends I have heard stations calling CQ endlessly with few takers the band is open but no one wants to work the guys unless they are friends or DX,  most of the times that I have answered these CQs it was a new ham that just upgraded and is on HF for the first time or a guy who just put up a new antenna and is trying to see how well it works. As far a rag chews it is two guys talking about all the operations the have had or the extent is " Name is Blah Blah. Rig is Blah Blah antenna is BLah Blah WX is Blah Blah over" the other staion repeats the same and then you heard both say 73 and then one starion calls  CQ CQ. If that doesn't bore me to death I can go down on 75 meters and see if there are any cuss words I have forgotten the meaning of, and between these few stations  the air is lots of empty air!!!

Another gripe I have is guys who jump into a DX  pileup  yell thier calls  over and over at the DX and then when they get though they ask the DX station his call ??? If they don't know who they are calling they should  find out before throwing thier call out there. DX nets are a real joke also.


One the postive side I have had some real nice ragchews and I have work some nice DX when there is not a contest on. Most contesters are DX chasers when they are not in a contest.

When there is a contest on while not use it too your advantage and work some of the DX you don't normaly hear or work that state you need for WAS on that band.

Well I have rambled long enough to I will stop now
73
Rick
KC5AJX

 

I do not like contest at all when they get in so close to me and use all the power and mic gain they can muster just to report you are 59 bla bla bla im a 10 meter am operator only and do not think they shoild get in 29 mhz at all where we as am 10 mtr people work is a very small portion of the 29 mhz band and like most im limited to weekends to operate so someone does need to do someting about where the contest are done and when i do sometimes use the warc bands but im just not much for ssb transmissions im sure this will irritate the sidebanders that hate am but so be it am is a great the best audio ever heard on ham bands.

Bob Hammond AA5RM

 

Now you've done it, Tom. The hornets are swarming again!

There are multiple aspects of the band use problem which gets amplified by the four major contests, and the scads of minor ones. The first is that contesters have the same right to use band space as non-contesters.

Unfortunately, most non-contesters get set in their ways, and only hang out on one region of one or two bands, and on only one mode. Insufficient flexibility
is not a virtue. And in most cases, if you simply move
UP the band, you'll find plenty of open space. Contests tend to cluster toward the low ends.

Secondly, there are an awful lot of poor receivers out there, which cannot handle reasonably strong, but perfectly clean, signals. "You're broad" coming from a guy who has a 4 pole ceramic bandpass filter with 3KHz 3dB points doesn't mean much. And yes, there ARE a number of overdriven contest signals,which splatter over 20KHz and more. I'm guessing something like 5% or so fall in that category, based on some observation in CQWW SSB, last weekend.

I won't argue the merits of competition, and testosterone driven activities; merely suggest that most contesters I know have finely honed message handling skills, and the ability to organize, respond, adapt, and strategize, under conditions of fatigue, while performing what is essentially a mind-numbing task. Not the worst set of attributes to have available.

Your thought about a "non-contest zone" on the upper end of each band has merit. It's informal now, let's
formalize it for the big 4 contests. So, where's the upper end of the cw band? EU phone guys on 40 were down at 7015 this past weekend! Problem is, propagation is global, and allocations vary by region.

Now that I've tweaked you...let's just do it for phone.

Jim/N2EA

ps: looks like W1MOO, my FD team took tops in 5A and made the top 10 this year.

 

                          This "hobby" is for everyone to enjoy, including those who love to participate in
                          contests… I feel that contesting is the "sport" of Amateur Radio. At least to
                          many it is including yours truly. The same applies to DX'ing. However I must
                          admit that I rarely enter contests. (I love DX'ing a lot more than contesting, but
                          still am not too serious about it. More on this in a minute.) I use contests to test
                          out my equipment and make a few quick contacts just to brush up on my skills.
                          Your CW copying ability will always go up after playing in a contest! The reason
                          I do not really participate in contests is due to the fact that I used to race
                          motocross professionally, and before I realized it, the sport that I lived for and
                          loved so dearly was becoming a huge stress on me and I was no longer having
                          fun. It started to become work. My biggest regret are all of the many great days
                          of racing and of practicing that I did not enjoy for what they were, or were
                          supposed to be, and that is fun. I am far too competitive to participate in most
                          any sport. Thus I only use contests for brushing up on CW and for seeing how
                          my station works in a high QRM environment. The only "contest" that I enter
                          routinely is Field Day. That one will always be fun for me.



                          Another great thing about contests is that they fill the bands up with operators, so
                          certainly no one can say that our frequencies are not being used. As for your fear
                          that no one would be able to hear a distress call during a contest I disagree
                          completely. After all, with a band that is full of operators you are far more likely
                          to be heard during a contest than at any other time. And I've yet to hear of a
                          contester who wouldn't help out a fellow Ham in distress. So with "full" bands
                          with plenty of very active operators on the air the chances of your distress call
                          being heard is greatly enhanced, and so would be the response time in getting
                          help.



                          I guess that the reason why I am not bothered (usually) by contests is the fact
                          that I run my own business, on the Internet, and one local business adventure that
                          only takes one day and just a few hours out of that each week for that. I am also
                          computer consultant, and an amateur freelance writer, thus I am home most of
                          the time. Since my office and radio room are next door to each other I am
                          always near my radios, all fifteen and counting! So I am extremely fortunate to be
                          able to set my own hours, and can operate on the bands pretty much any time
                          that I wish to, even while working sometimes.



                          For the average Ham, I suspect that the majority of his/her operating time is on
                          the weekends, and perhaps in the weekday evenings. So I can see how some, if
                          not many, have a problem operating around nets, contests, DX'ers, etc.
                          Especially if you and a buddy have a schedule on a certain band, frequency, and
                          time.



                          There is not magic cure for a lack of spectrum and the many different
                          preferences in operating. No matter what, we are going to have conflicts. We all
                          have different tastes; be it in what we like to eat, the type of car we drive, the
                          type of radio we use, the type of operating we like to do, etc. There will always
                          be too many of this or too much of that for someone. My only suggestion is to try
                          out different bands AND different modes of operation. If you are having
                          problems on 20 meter SSB, try 20 meter CW or PSK-31 if Morse code isn't
                          your thing. If 20 meters gets too crowded, give 40 meters a try. Did you check
                          15 meters? How about 17 meters? Check out 30 meters while you're at it… I'm
                          willing to bet (actually it's a sure thing, as I know), that you can and will find
                          several clear places to operate, even with that same friend that you have a
                          schedule with and perhaps meet and make some new friends at the same time.
                          Leave several options open when it comes to operating on a schedule. This
                          combined with a basic knowledge of propagation will go a long way toward your
                          happiness and operating ability, not to mention your enjoyment of Amateur
                          Radio. Keep in mind that there are ALWAYS options in Amateur Radio. This
                          certainly shouldn't give a contester, or any operator for that matter, the right to
                          ignore the band plans and to QRM ongoing QSO's. It is merely a suggestion to
                          those who are experiencing heavy QRM during contests and are getting stressed
                          out about it.



                          Perhaps more pressure should be put on the contest organizers to penalize a
                          contester who blatantly breaks the band plans or causes deliberate QRM to
                          ongoing communications. No one should ever be exempt from the band plans,
                          not to mention from good Amateur practice and plain old courtesy. Just as no
                          one should be limited in what they would like to pursue in this wonderful
                          hobby/service.



                          73 Clinton AB7RG



"If you're not having fun you are doing something wrong!"

 

</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote </td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">I propose that the contest sponsors amend the contest rules to allow for a section of the band to be out-of-bounds for contesting. [/QUOTE]<span id='postcolor'>

           A CONTEST FREE ZONE?                 A B S O L U T E L Y ! ! !

 I think this is an extremely good idea.  WARC bands are a contest-free haven and thats good for those who use those bands. We should also leave a little room on the others.  Contesting is one of my passions, but giving up a few KC's will have little effect on the contest.  

 What if 20 meters was needed for some disaster relief operation during a major contest weekend?  It would be impossible to hold a frequency and keep everyone informed of the emergency net.  

 We can have our cake and eat it to!

73
Dave, NG5E

 

I just read the article on contesting and the various comments. All I have to say is I used to be a contester, but I gave it up. I did not want to be associated with the behavior that the majority of contesters exhibit. Just last Sunday 10/27/02, I met with two of my friends for what is normally a 15 to 20 minute QSO on 20 meters, we were enjoying our short QSO when all of a sudden in comes a contester, right on top of us calling cq contest etc...he never even asked if the frequency was in use and whats more, when we tried to inform him of this situation, he never even responded, even though one of our group turned on his amplifier and really shot some RF out. All I have to say is if this guy's hearing was that bad....how could he expect to hear a reply to his contest cq? The long and short of it is he ran us off the band as we could not hear each other over his contesting. I think this kind of operator really puts a bad light on ham radio, it makes me ashamed to even be associated with contesting.

 

Before we start making big changes about operating mode or content of communications we need to carefully define the objectives. Ham radio is first justified as a public service resource. It also provides a medium for scientific learning and experimentation. It also recognizes that the airways support interesting activities where people can spend their time in ways that are of value to them. By definition the only content permitted on amateur radio is that which is not of sufficient value to justify the use of commercial facilities. The only exception to this is the public service communications. Content is expressly limited only in the areas of commercial, music, and general decency standards. The attempts to apply local band allocations or operating practice standards are too vague to live beyond the terms of present enforcement officers. In a few years others will be in charge and different value statements will control for a while. The fundamentals will not change as long as amateur radio is viable.

Is the objective of this posting to increase the use of the spectrum utilization? Is the objective to reduce the crowding of bands? Do we want different rules on weekends? Do we want a portion of each band to use only for net type operations? Which operators are we willing to chase away from the hobby?

As I tune the bands, most seem busy by what sounds to me like "idle chit-chat." That is a value statement on my part! If I were successful in getting into a position of influence where I could eliminate that waste of good band space I would be able to provide QRM free space for all the things I wanted to do. The problem is that I would be destroying the activities that keep all the people who enjoy that kind of thing in the hobby.

Field Day is not a contest, it is preparation for public service work and trumps most of the other activities that it conflicts with that one day per year. Other contests tend to be contained by a mode or band. The WARC bands are always available. Most contests do not fill the entire band on any mode. Popular contests are well publicised. Amateurs who do not want to be bothered by contests can readily tune out contests with their three contest filters. These filters are called the band switch, the mode switch, and the off/on switch.      

I think that keeping an active amateur radio population is a top objective. We must be careful to avoid changes that reduce the enjoyment of the hobby for people who enjoy aspects of the hobby different from our own. I do believe that our best tools for keeping the hobby healthy are tolerence and flexibility. Good day!

 

Tom the no contest zone idea has been around a good while.It is a good idea but I am affraid your voice will fall on deaf ears.As big a annual event as CQWW there is still a good bit of free space on all the bands,so packing them off to the south end of the band should work but no one will try it.A large pirk would be if the contesters actualy practiced the skills the contest was designed to polish in the first place.Let's face it if your contesting on a serious note then you should have a deacent antenna system and a pretty good RECIVER.Reciver be a two part point meaning the rig and operator.I also enjoy the contest weekends my self just to work a few new stations.I'm not into the wall paper thing to much these days though I will send a card if someone wants one.Tom I will support you on your idea and stand with you trying to get some changes made if you can get any of the sponcers to listen hi hi.
Dave AE8U