<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 3.2//EN">
<HTML>
<HEAD>
<META HTTP-EQUIV="Content-Type" CONTENT="text/html; charset=us-ascii">
<META NAME="Generator" CONTENT="MS Exchange Server version 6.5.7653.23">
<TITLE>Re: [MiQP-Mail] Rover category</TITLE>
</HEAD>
<BODY>
<!-- Converted from text/rtf format -->
<P><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">Hank, </FONT>
</P>
<P><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">Definitely talking two issues here. </FONT>
</P>
<P><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">Rover category and how close to the county line do you have to be to be in the county.</FONT>
</P>
<P><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">The Rover category may be a viable category especially if you could show that it would increase activity. I know I worked N9NE in almost every county he parked in last weekend. Partly because he was in the UP where we had good propagation and partly because he spent more than 30 minutes in each county. If you could show a half dozen rover operations that would be good for a couple hundred or so QSOs from each of 4 counties then it would make a good case for the category. Basically, activity begets more activity but adding categories just waters down the activity you already have. I would look at the EOC category. Almost every county has a Red Cross station or EOC station or both, however I don't think that the EOC category generated as much activity amongst the non-contest community as we were hoping. Maybe the logs submitted will prove me wrong.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">I have a problem with multiple counties though. You can't operate from two places simultaneously. It isn't allowed by any awards programs i.e. DXCC, WAS and County Hunters. Close only counts in horsehoes, hand grenades, and nuclear weapons but not in ham radio QTH entities. I have worked the Illinois QSO party and found it silly to work one QSO for 4 multipliers. At least that’s what they were implying. I would reply with QSL, YOU ARE 59 MI 59 MI 59 MI 59 MI and log the 4 QSOs. Their game, their rules. Basically, it seemed that these stations just wanted to be a little more special than your run of the mill IL stations in hopes it would generate the pileups they needed to stroke their egos. From what I heard from some of those stations, they needed a lot more practice on those pile ups too. </FONT></P>
<P><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">Anyway, it’s the Michigan QSO party and you just can't be any more special than being in Michigan, whichever county/counties you are in. Pick a category and make your plans to operate it as best you can.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">N8SS</FONT>
</P>
<BR>
<BR>
<BR>
<BR>
<BR>
<BR>
<P><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Courier New">>I won't push for the rover category, because the circular reasoning that </FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Courier New">>we don't have many of these may be a result of the fact that we don't </FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Courier New">>have the category. But, we'll never know until we'd allow the category </FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Courier New">>and push it. I have no idea of whether this would turn out to be </FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Courier New">>popular or not. I've scouted the four county corner point of Clare, </FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Courier New">>Isabella, Mecosta, and Isabella, which is a very isolated area, and </FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Courier New">>would be amenable to a fixed operation within 600' of that corner. </FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Courier New">>Similarly, Kent, Montcalm, and Newago, and Ionia are three county areas </FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Courier New">>with possibilities.</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Courier New">></FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Courier New">>Maybe we need a portable category? The Illinois QSO party had over 20 </FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Courier New">>portable stations in 2007 in single, two, three and four county </FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Courier New">>operation. Some 16 operators were cited as coming from out of state to </FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Courier New">>operate either as mobiles or portables. Their portable category allows </FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Courier New">>a station to set up in a single county, or at a 2, 3 or four county </FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Courier New">>intersection. The number of individual counties activated by these </FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Courier New">>portable stations was 39 in 2007. Most of these stations operated for </FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Courier New">>the full 8 hours of their contest. Many of the counties covered would </FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Courier New">>not otherwise be covered by fixed stations.</FONT>
</P>
<BR>
</BODY>
</HTML>