It has been interesting to read the different viewpoints in this discussion.
What is BIZARRE however, is the response of some people to things that
I never said and points that I never made.
Here is a summary of what I said and/or implied:
1) There are SEPARATE AND UNEQUAL sets of rules for VE and W
participation in this contest. (Thanks to K4XS for saying it more clearly.)
2) The VE's benefit by having ADDITIONAL frequency allocations that
they can use AT WILL to gain a huge contesting advantage.
3) Despite the DIFFERENCES in the EXISTING RULES AND
FREQUENCY ALLOCATIONS, VE's and W's are in the SAME
category when it comes to scoring and awards.
4) The pairing of VE's and W's, from DIFFERENT COUNTRIES
in the SAME category, and despite DIFFERENT RULES, is
ILLOGICAL and UNFAIR to ALL W's.
5) VE's should compete against VE's with the VE set of rules and
and frequencies, and W's should compete against W's with the W
rules and frequencies.
I DO NOT think that #5 would create international isolationism or
jeopardize Canadian - US relations or ham friendships in any way.
Is there REALLY any doubt about this?
I DO NOT think that VE's should stop giving out their section in ARRLDX or
be considered "DX" in this contest, because I see no need to change that.
That was my original premise.
I DO NOT think that VE's should have to change their operating habits one
bit!
I DO think that the ONLY thing that needs to be changed immediately, is
simply
having the VE's listed with other VE's FOR SCORING AND AWARDS
PURPOSES because:
A) Canada IS a separate country from the US (and good friend), and
B) Canada has DIFFERENT FREQUENCY ALLOCATIONS AND RULES
I DO NOT think that the VE's and W's should ever have been in the SAME
country category.
The ***ONLY**** thing that needs to be changed to rectify this disparity is
to
have a NEW column in the results that says:
VE-CANADA
and simply list the VE scores below it.
**It couldn't be simpler, and NO ONE has to change how they operate ONE
BIT!**
I DO NOT think that just because the Northeast has an advantage during
a large part of the cycle that means we should live with existing ILLOGICAL
rules and Category. What does one have to do with the other?
Finally, I REJECT the premise of some that because "contesting is unfair"
and there
is "no level playing field" means that we should ignore OBVIOUS and
ILLOGICAL
rules and disparities. What sense does that make?
In contesting and "real life" REAL competition is supposed to be about
making the playing
field as level as possible so that people can test themselves against each
other with the SAME
rules, at the SAME time and under the SAME conditions. At least that is
what
REAL COMPETITORS want. They don't want handicaps or handouts and they know
that any win is devalued by using a DIFFERENT set of rules that presents a
LARGE
and UNNECESSARY ADVANTAGE to THEM at the expense of OTHERS.
Multis don't want to compete against Single Ops and Extras doesn't want to
compete
against Novices. Likewise, W's want to compete against W's and I will bet
that most
VE's want to compete against VE's as well. Surely nothing is lost by doing
do. And
guys that want to compare to each other can simply match up the score
columns
easily enough.
Sure there are geographic and demographic inequities, but how does the
preservation of an ADDITIONAL set of ARBITRARY inequities (easily removed!)
in the form of DIFFERENT RULES, make for a better contest?
I don't believe it does. I think it is time to make SEPARATE categories for
W's and
for VE's so each can play by the SAME set of rules.
Thanks for your input and for the bandwidth.
73
Bob KQ2M
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