Doc #33

The CAC has received no formal assignments from the Programs and Services Committee (P&SC) so far this year. However the P&SC did approve the CAC's request that it be allowed to review a proposal for changes to the "General Rules for ARRL Contests on Bands Below 30 MHz (HF)," in regards to changing the "Low Power limit" from 150 watts to 100 watts, not only in the IARU HF contest, but in other ARRL sponsored contests as well. A formal recommendation to the P&SC by the CAC will be forthcoming.

There was a meeting of the CAC members attending the Dayton Convention in May. Several topics from among those suggested by various CAC members prior to this meeting were discussed. Of major interest was the suggestion that there be an effort to put together a "Contester's Code of Conduct" to be presented for open discussion by the amateur community. A summary of this meeting is attached.

To: CAC Members
From: Chairman, CAC
Subject: Dayton CAC Meeting

Per my earlier note to the group there was a gathering of CAC members at Dayton on Saturday, May 15 2004. Attending were: John, W2GD; Greg, K9IG; Bruce, WA7BNM; Rus, K2UA Ward, N0AX; Bob, W6RGG; and Wayne, N7NG.

There were two items on our Agenda. The first was a suggestion initiated by the CAC recommending that the low power limit in ARRL HF contests be changed from 150 to 100 watts. As 12 of the 16 CAC members had previously agreed to this in earlier discussions, the text of the proposal was left unchanged. However, it was agreed that a preliminary request for sanction be sent to the new Programs and Services Committee to pave the way for submitting our formal proposal.

The second item was an earlier suggestion by Ward, N0AX that the CAC take up the subject of contesting behavior with the goal of creating a "Contester's Code of Conduct". It was agreed that the key to creating such a code was to focus on the actions of contesters as individuals in contrast to adding new rules to contests.

The content of the list of "Issues" suggested by Ward was carefully reviewed and revised. A restatement of these issues and a plan of action will be put together by Ward and distributed to the CAC, as soon as his busy schedule permits. It is not yet clear as to what form the outcome of this effort will take. That in itself will require some serious discussion.

I'd like to thank all those who made the meeting, as well as those couldn't be there but sent along their regards.

Joe, W5ASP