The ZLs suffer even more than you. I once made a giant spreadsheet
about twenty years ago which calculated average distance between all of
the DXCC entities and the ZLs were about one hop worse than anybody else
- by far the toughest populated spot to work DX from on Earth. So I
guess they should always win DX contests. Or 9V or VK. (Turns out 9A
is the closest on average.) Being a worldwide contest, CQ has to report
worldwide results based on their system. When writing up the ARRL DX
Phone results, I tried to notice when a geographically-disadvantaged
station placed higher than expected but there is a limit to how much one
author can do. Tables of "Great Scores From Unusual Places" would be fun!
Logs are public now. Come up with a by-distance scoring system and
rescore the logs, then show how it results in a more equitable order of
finish for single-band and all-band entries on a worldwide basis.
Simple matter of programming, the four most dangerous words in the
English language.
What else should be included to fairly represent QSO
degree-of-difficulty? Geomagnetic latitude of the station, certainly, as
well as atmospheric noise level, maximum geomagnetic latitude of the QSO
path, solar flux (inverse relationship for low and high bands),
geomagnetic stability and absorption, etc. In some years, Zones 13 and
12 can't be beaten on 10 and 15 meters, and in other years they are back
in the pack. Maybe a different system for each band that takes into
account the propagation? The sweet spot moves around independently on
all bands on a daily and even hourly basis - this is a hard, hard problem.
The fairest thing I could suggest would be to rate each QSO based on the
VOACAP model which computes SNR between any two points for any set of
time, date, sunspot number, geomagnetic indices, and station
characteristics. Even that ignores short-term absorption variations
from flares, local man-made noise levels, and terrain dependencies.
I understand the aggravation, Charly, having labored in the Pacific NW
through years of not being able to hear Europe above 20 MHz, much less
run them, and realizing that others like KL7 have it even worse. We're
never going to have a reasonably simple global system of scoring that
covers four octaves of spectrum throughout the sunspot cycle. This is
why WRTC is such a valuable competition.
My advice stands - consider the big contests "activity weekends" and
compete against regional peers with appropriate reporting and
recognition. There is nothing stopping you or anyone else from
re-analyzing the logs and publishing results according to any method
they feel is more fair - all of the data is freely available. Why not
sponsor a Zone 26 competition? If you want to base it on distance, be
my guest. Anything that makes sense in that region would stimulate
participation and make more fun for everybody.
Get on the air, make QSOs, and enjoy the surge in activity that comes
with a big contest. Compete for BKK bragging rights and know that those
of us elsewhere around the world appreciate you getting on. Propagation
with all its quirks and weirdnesses is what makes this game fun. Don't
make yourself crazy.
73, Ward N0AX
On 5/26/2015 6:56 PM, Charles Harpole wrote:
Dear Ward,
BKK to Tokyo 2858 to MO 6391
BKK to Berlin 5537 to MO 4657
BKK to Hartford, Ct. 8570 to MO 1077
BKK to Chicago 8563 to MO 300
BKK to LAX 8278 to MO 1800
BKK to Santiago 17,648 to MO 5110
BKK to Peru 19,530 to MO 3443
BKK to Sidney 7521 to MO 9057
and the little jump to Taiwan 1575 or to MO 7677.
BKK total 80,080 MO total 39,512
.... and a person would wonder about my idea to score by miles
covered.... 73, Charly HS0ZCW
On Wed, May 27, 2015 at 4:22 AM, Jeff Stai <wk6i.jeff@gmail.com
<mailto:wk6i.jeff@gmail.com>> wrote:
On Tue, May 26, 2015 at 10:56 AM, Ward Silver <hwardsil@gmail.com
<mailto:hwardsil@gmail.com>> wrote:
> My opinion is that regional-based reporting and operator
comparison works
> a lot better and is actually close to comparing apples to apples.
Perhaps QST could be persuaded to list regional top five scores
for ALL
ARRL contests, and the ARRL to actively promote the sponsoring of
plaques
for same?
73 jeff wk6i
--
Jeff Stai ~ wk6i.jeff@gmail.com <mailto:wk6i.jeff@gmail.com>
Twisted Oak Winery ~ http://www.twistedoak.com/
Facebook ~ http://www.facebook.com/twistedoak
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