Agreed.
Adding classes to a contest does a few beneficial things (in my opinion):
1) Gives rise to new levels of competition. After all, what's a contest all
about? The more people that get fired up to light their new ZZZ-band widget
adds some excitement. Again, what's a contest all about? Finding that your
buddy with the same ZZZ-band widget gives you something to battle against.
And HELL, you might just find that in the long run, you WANT to get all the
bands so you can squish em like a bug. Contests do that.
2) Gives newcomers something to shoot for. If you get 50 QSOs / 25 Grids on
6m, - your 25% of the way to VUCC in a weekend. Kinda nice. Not to mention,
you might just beat your friends & neighbors. Again, feeding that
competitive spirit.
With that said, there's more to VHF+ than contests. When 6m was open a
couple years ago to Eu, it was MAGIC to hear my local buds with their
FT-817s working Europe. Now, that's a long way from happening again soon -
but Es season will be upon us soon. Now, once again, that FT-817 can be the
king of the band if the Es clouds are just right. 2m, when tropo season
starts, will be fun as well, as will 432.
There's enough variety to look forward to, that someone who JUST contests is
missing out. Encouraging ACTIVITY, not just contesting, is more the ticket
to increasing contest participation. If someone thinks the band is always
dead (since it seems to be more that way during a contest than not!) then
they ignore that radio/band. If we all could fire up more often (not likely,
but a nice dream at least!) and give them something to try working - then
more people would light up for a contest.
Or maybe I should just wake up.
Sighhhhhhh. .
Mark, K2AXX
ABCD9EFGHIJL
> -----Original Message-----
> From: k4rxr@att.net [mailto:k4rxr@att.net]
> Sent: Thursday, April 10, 2003 1:49 PM
> To: vhfcontesting@contesting.com
> Subject: Re: [VHFcontesting] No Data+only annecdotal speculation=wrong
> solution
>
>
> > 1. There are large groups of folks with the CAPABILITY of
> working one or
> > more VHF/UHF bands and perhaps a bunch of different
> strategies are needed to
> > motivate each of these potential contestants (e.g. the HF
> packers w/
> > FT-817's, 2 mtr FM'ers, HF contesters, etc.).
>
> >From my perspective on the outside looking in, as it were, I
> think this is a
> very salient point.
>
> I've been reading this thread and took note of the messages
> from the big guns,
> the guys with the high power amps, huge antenna arrays, and
> esoteric microwave
> equipment. I understand their concern about "dumbing down"
> the contest. Unless
> there is a reason for these folks to explore the limits of
> technology, then
> nobody will bother to do it. Part of the contest needs to
> cater to this kind of
> operator. And if the contest rules change to take away all of
> their advantage,
> then they have a legitimate gripe that their investment will
> have been dumped
> in the toilet.
>
> On the other hand, if I ever pry open my wallet and get off
> my lazy butt, my
> entry into VHF contesting is going to be with a IC-706/FT-100
> type of rig and
> simple antennas for an ABD rover type of operation. My
> concern is that if I try
> that approach to contesting only to have my scores pale by
> comparison to the
> big guns, then I'm not likely to pursue contesting any
> further. I don't think
> I'm the only one in this boat.
>
> As much as I hate the idea of a creating a lot of classes with little
> participation in each class, to an extent, that approach may
> increase total
> participation. That's the goal, isn't it? And the only way to
> know is to try
> it. Add a class for the IC-706/FT-100 guys and see if it has
> any impact on over
> all participation. If that doesn't work, drop it and try
> something else. The
> point is that the contest rules have to evolve even if that
> means taking away
> some of the advantage that the big guns currently have.
>
> Bob...
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