Doug, Good, well-reasoned argument. I will steal from it liberally if I receive the same question (though I have not). Tnx es 73, Greg, K0GW On Monday, October 26, 2015, Doug Rehman <doug@k4ac.com> wrote:
At least one other Director has been contacted by a member of their Division that is upset that the change to allow contest use of 146.52 MHz will destroy the ability of amateurs needing assistance to get it. Beyond the obviously contrived set of facts it would take for me to consider 52 to be a viable place to look for assistance in the 21st century, below is the response that I sent to the member in my Division that I believe is spearheading the Save 52 movement.
What is particularly worth noting is the thread that he started on QRZ.com (link below) which backfired on him as the vast majority of responders think it is a good idea or don’t see a problem with it.
I expect that many of you will receive communications either from the member in my Division (W4FM), or from someone carrying his flag.
Doug
K4AC
Hi Rodger:
Chris has forwarded your concerns to me about the recent decision to allow contest operation on 146.52 MHz. I understand and appreciate your concerns about keeping 146.52 MHz free from contesting, but I respectfully disagree.
In my travels around the Division I usually monitor 52 and have announced that I am listening with very rare contacts. This experience is typical for everyone I know. Two or three decades ago there was much more activity on two meters and significantly more on 52.
There are only a handful of ARRL VHF contests so the number of hours of potential usage of 52 is very limited. As someone that has participated in VHF/UHF/Microwave contesting, I believe that your concerns are misguided about someone needing assistance on 52 when a contest is going on. All of the VHF+ contesters I know would immediately suspend their contesting activity to render whatever assistance they could. With the exception of 6 meters when there is a good opening, VHF contests are not marked with beginning to end contacts; losing some time to assisting someone on .52 is not going affect a VHF+ contest operation.
I’ve read the comments made to your posting on QRZ.com, https://forums.qrz.com/index.php?threads/save-146-52-simplex-from-contesters..., and see that the clear majority of the comments are in favor of contest use of 52.
This is one change in a bigger revitalization attempt for V/U/M. We have been making changes and observing the effects in subsequent contests. The results of the decision concerning 52 will be observed so that we can see what effects it has.
73,
Doug
Doug Rehman, K4AC
Director Southeastern Division
ARRL—The National Association for Amateur Radio®
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