Thoughts on VarAC for ARRL Field Day Contacts
With the ARRL’s Field Day event coming up at the end of June I was considering setting up a digital station at our Field Day event and running VarAC on HF. Understanding that VarAC is a connected mode, (Station to Station) what would be a good plan for using VarAC in a contest setting? Has anyone already been down this path? Is it worth trying to use VaraAC in a contest setting?
Would it make sense to use the very upper and lower slots above and below the CF for contacts with other stations?
Does the ARRL recognize VarAC as a digital mode that would count in the scoring of contacts?
I can kind of see calling CQ, Field Day with a Broadcast but I would think that doing that on the calling frequency would not be acceptable. Other than the very upper and lower slots, is there a frequency per band where freelance VarAC broadcast for contest contacts are acceptable?
In short, I really enjoy using VarAC on HF and would like to let some other club members get a taste of using VarAC on the HF bands but I do not want to be disruptive to other users of VarAC who are not participating in the Field Day event.
Any civil suggestions and comments regarding using VarAC on HF during a contest would be appreciated.
73
Keith
KN5g
VarAC is excellent for “chatting”, however for contest style operating it is bit long winded.
Unfortunately ARRL seem uninterested in sorting LOTW and Vara. I raised the issue with them months ago and they just say to translate the mode to digital in the TQSL app/program.
Log4OM is not any better, it records the mode as dynamic, but if you try to edit the log, it changes the record reports to 599…
Oh well, at least VarAC works for its intended purpos.