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Communication in case of disasters is not the fundamental purpose of ham radio, it's one purpose. The others are research, education and exchange between people

Communication in case of disasters is not the fundamental purpose of ham radio, it's one purpose. The others are research, education and exchange between peoples and just as important. Contests don't serve any of these well. Stations are being used outside of contests too, and DX QSOs are being done outside of contests too (besides, DX capability isn't that important in case of disaster. also the DX bands 'need' unwieldy antennas and the skywave unreliability and the ground/skywave gap doesn't help. the local 2m/70cm repeater would be much more useful -- portable 2m/70cm HTs are cheap+common.). There are hams that do care about disaster communication and prepare for it. These are good to have. It involves more than contesting though (e.g. actually transmitting information instead of skipping even trivial things like proper signal reports just to be faster, advance coordination with civil services, independence of power grid...).

intrasight 11y ago
I agree that there are other purposes, but from society's standpoint "backup" is the fundamental purpose. If the existing contest rules are not well geared towards that objective, then they should tweak the rules.
- Ao7bei3s 11y ago
  No, it really isn't. And this is not really up for discussion: it's on the test (question VA102 in .de). So don't take my word for it, read the ITU definition at http://life.itu.int/radioclub/rr/art01.htm http://life.itu.int/radioclub/rr/art01.htm: """amateur service: A radiocommunication service for the purpose of self-training, intercommunication and technical investigations[...]""" Emergency communication is important, but ham radios other purposes are at least equally important. Society profits just as much from people getting into and experimenting with RF, or from communication between peoples. Also, it is generally understood that amateur radios role in disaster scenarios is to support official emergency responders, not itself be "societies backup". It's not about being independent of the state (I'm not implying you said that); quite the opposite. Contest rules are made by whoever organized the contest - typically the International Amateur Radio Union or a national or regional group. These are democratic and composed of hams. Besides, it isn't just a matter of rules, it's a matter of physics too. Contests are mostly about long-range (DX) communication. Disaster recovery needs reliable short- and mid-range communication. Different bands and/or different antennas.

intrasight 11y ago

I agree that there are other purposes, but from society's standpoint "backup" is the fundamental purpose. If the existing contest rules are not well geared towards that objective, then they should tweak the rules.

Ao7bei3s 11y ago
No, it really isn't. And this is not really up for discussion: it's on the test (question VA102 in .de). So don't take my word for it, read the ITU definition at http://life.itu.int/radioclub/rr/art01.htm http://life.itu.int/radioclub/rr/art01.htm: """amateur service: A radiocommunication service for the purpose of self-training, intercommunication and technical investigations[...]""" Emergency communication is important, but ham radios other purposes are at least equally important. Society profits just as much from people getting into and experimenting with RF, or from communication between peoples. Also, it is generally understood that amateur radios role in disaster scenarios is to support official emergency responders, not itself be "societies backup". It's not about being independent of the state (I'm not implying you said that); quite the opposite. Contest rules are made by whoever organized the contest - typically the International Amateur Radio Union or a national or regional group. These are democratic and composed of hams. Besides, it isn't just a matter of rules, it's a matter of physics too. Contests are mostly about long-range (DX) communication. Disaster recovery needs reliable short- and mid-range communication. Different bands and/or different antennas.