[Moon-net] [Moon] Assisted, 2007 ARRL International EME Competition

[Joe Taylor]

Hi Mike,

Formal answers to your questions must come from someone at ARRL.  You 
could try writing to the new contest branch manager at contests at arrl.org.

However, with the understanding that these will be my PERSONAL 
interpretations of the rules for the 2007 ARRL International EME 
Competition, I will try to provide answers to your questions from a 
native English speaker.

M. Watanabe, JH1KRC wrote:

> Please make it for example, on 144 MHz any mode, my questions are:
> 
> 1) What communications methods other than EME can you use for assisted categories?  Please count with concrete names. 

Key words in rule 3.5 (defining the "Assisted" category) are:

"Any active or passive use of amateur or non-amateur communication tools 
used during the contest period to solicit and/or coordinate a contact 
prior to the start of that contact."

Therefore: solicitation, arrangement, or liaison of any EME contact or 
contacts on the 144, 432, or 1296 MHz bands during the contest period 
moves a single-band entry into the Assisted category.  The non-EME 
communication tool used for liaison can be anything: telephone, email, 
internet logger, or 14.345 MHz SSB, for example.

Assisted contacts on 144, 432, and 1296 MHz are permitted ONLY for 
single-band, mixed-mode contest entries.

Assistance as defined above is ALWAYS permitted on the 50, 220, and 902 
MHz bands and on all bands 2.3 GHz and higher, without affecting one's 
entry category.

> 2) If someone who is calling JH1KRC for many minutes unseucessfully, just see the writing by someone else on a logger  that JH1KRC is operating with V-polarization, and then he changes the pol. and succeeds in contact to JH1KRC, he should submit the log to assisted category.  Am I right?

YES.  Anyone who (even passively) looks at an internet EME logger during 
the contest becomes "Assisted" if he/she is making a single-band entry 
on 144, 432, or 1296 MHz.

Multi-band entrants are not permitted to do these things under ANY 
circumstances for contacts on these three bands.

In my opinion ALL multi-band entrants, and ANYONE entering in categories 
other than those defined in rules 5.3.4 and 5.3.8, are best advised to 
disconnect the internet from their radio shacks or otherwise disable all 
email, browsers, etc., during the contest.  (You can ignore this advice 
when making QSOs on 50, 222, or 902 MHz, or during the Microwave weekend.)

> 3) If someone is in contact with JH1KRC but missed a part of the report to receive, he requests JH1KRC to send his report again by internet or telephone, in such situation in the contest, he has to begin the contact to JH1KRC from the first moment, and should not continue the present contact.  Assisted rule allows this.  
>  Am I right?   

YES. Any non-EME communication during a QSO invalidates the contact. 
You must start over.  This applies even on bands where assistance is 
always permitted, i.e., 50, 222, 902, and 2300+ MHz.

> 4) According to the rule 5.3.4 and 5.3.8, who can actually submit the log for these assisted categories?   

Single Operator, Mixed Mode, Assisted; single-band on 144, 432, or 1296 MHz.

Multi-Operator, Mixed Mode, Assisted; single-band on 144, 432, or 1296 MHz.

These rules make it clear that the Assisted category is intended for 
"smaller stations and newcomers to EME."  To me, this means that if you 
are capable of making many EME contest contacts then you should not be 
using the Assisted class; or if you use it as a newcomer this year, you 
should certainly not use it next year.

	-- 73, Joe, K1JT