Sharing the Bands With Contesters

Garry Gregory writes:



Although I am relatively new as a Ham, I am surprised that there is
no frequency allocation for contesting. Do all Hams enter contests, therefore having no need to leave room for a voice QSO?







A recent contest made it almost impossible to communicate on 20 meters. Established nets simply were knocked off the air by contesters
who moved within a kc of their frequency and did not acknowledge any pleas to move away a little. Instead in some cases the contesters moved onto the adjacent frequency and complained about splatter. Am I missing something here?



When I became a Ham I understood that this hobby was for ALL hams and that it meant many things to many operators. I was amazed at the scope of the hobby. Now I am non plussed as a result of the recent events. Surely I am not alone in asking why do we not allocate a portion of each band to be used in a contest-- if only on the the day(s) of the particular contest thereby allowing other Hams who are not in that contest to pursue their hobby in relative peace. After all, we too are Hams and we would also like to use the bands.



Sincerely,


KD5NHL