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Some reflections on the latest 160 contests
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REFLECTIONS ON THE 1995 ARRL 160 AND 1996 CQWW 160 CONTESTS
=0D
Perhaps it was reading the writing on the wall(changes in cqww rules abou=
t =
packet self-spotting) that caused a seemingly spontaneous cessation of th=
e
endless self-spotting of years past in ARRL 160 and a much lower rate in =
the
CQWW 160 this season, at least on the east coast. This was a good thing =
as I
have aways found it distasteful. We probably could not make an effective =
rule
to formalize a prohibition of this practice but it would be good if we co=
uld
at least have a gentleman's agreement to avoid self-spotting. =
=0D
Most of the time the self-spotting is an effort to pick up the extremely =
dull daytime hours in these contests which brings me to my next point.
I think both these contests would be a lot more fun if they were structur=
ed
with a time off period a la ARRL 10 meter contest. At the K2WI ARRL 160 =
and
WW2Y CQWW 160 operations the daytime rate never seems to be bigger than 1=
5
per hour so a 6 hour break would reduce QSO totals by 90 assuming the qso=
s
were not made up in other hours. Since these are all low point-value qso=
s I
don't think this would change the character of the contest greatly. The =
big =
numbers come from the nighttime dx contacts. For example in WW2Y CQ160 70=
% =
of the qso points were from 10-point qsos. =
=0D
I propose a single 6 hour off period for all classes in these contests. L=
et's
take a break, walk the dog, sleep, be with our families, and rest up for =
some
serious competition during the night hours. =
=0D
We missed the competition from KN8Z this year who usually keeps us on our=
=
toes in the ARRL 160. Would like to hear from Doc's group. AB4RU made a=
=
strong effort as usual, nice job, fellas. Would like to hear from you to=
o.
=0D
The multiop class in CQ160 was real competitive this time around. Congra=
ts
to W2GD. Now you guys know how disabled we were last year by line noise =
and
putting the new elements of our array right in the midst of our beverages=
=2E
Nice job to W1KM, too. My father-in-law lives down the road from you so =
I
know how nice your location is. As the multis improve their stations, go=
ne =
are the days when the single ops come out ahead.
=0D
The conditions in both these contests were the best ever. We worked our f=
irst
ever JAs in both contests, working 2 in ARRL and 7 in CQWW. I would be =
interested to know how other stations did on that score. I have never he=
ard
the JA window so crowded that they were qrming each other like this CQWW.=
=0D
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