Yes, conditions were better in Feb 2008 than Feb 2009, but try comparing the
number of 20m qso's for the top scoring western and eastern stations. Not even
close.
If you go back a little further it does become equal around sunspot maximum:
feb NA CW Sprint top 5
west east
2005 5 0
2004 2 3
2003 3 2
2002 2 3
2001 3 2
2000 5 0
But it is not at all an anomaly that 20m closes near sunset at solar minimum.
The typical sunset times in Feb are such that the sun has already set for the
midwest and east coast at 0000z. Moving the start time back an hour would make
it a lot fairer when the SFI is low.
And the participation from east coast stations might go up if it was a little
more level playing field...
Tor
N4OGW
-------------- Original message from Pete Smith <n4zr@contesting.com>:
--------------
> Spoken like a westerner, Steve.
>
> 'Ted's data covered 5 years, not just this year - most of the whole
> downslope of this sunspot cycle. I think they're pretty persuasive.
>
> 73, Pete N4ZR
>
> At 04:00 PM 2/10/2009, yN2IC wrote:
> >No doubt, 20 meters really stunk for everyone last weekend. However, a one
> >time
> >anomaly is not a good reason to change what has worked well for the past
> >25 years.
> >
> >If you question whether this last Sprint was an anomaly, compare with the
> >results of the February, 2008 CW Sprint. The solar flux was exactly the
> >same -
> >70-71, but the number of 20 meter QSO's made by everyone, east and west coast
> >alike, was much higher.
> >
> >73,
> >Steve, N2IC
> >
> >Pete Smith wrote:
> > > Bravo, Ted! Succinctly stated, good data, asking the right questions.
> > >
> > > I favor a test of moving the February Sprint an hour earlier, but keeping
> > > the bands as is. Reasoning, chiefly, is that it's a minimal change and
> > > doesn't penalize guys without good 160M antennas, and doing it once (say,
> > > next year) should help to illuminate the cause of the much-more-profound
> > > bias in February.
> > >
> > > 73, Pete N4ZR
> > >
> > > At 02:20 PM 2/10/2009, Ted Bryant wrote:
> > >> On the 3830 reflector, Andy N2NT asked:
> > >>
> > >> "...Anyone for moving the Feb sprint an hour earlier or to 160m? Well, at
> > >> least till the spots come back..."
> > >>
> > >> Interesting ideas, Andy.
> > >>
> > >> In the Northern California Contest Club's annual Sprint "Ladder"
> > >> competition, there are three competitive categories. One is strictly for
> > >> NCCC members but the other two divide the U.S. into two groups: stations
> > >> East and West of the Mississippi River. Apparently someone recognized
> > that
> > >> there must be some geographical/propagational bias that warranted these
> > >> groupings. Also, the Ladder competition is held across 20/40/80 and 160
> > >> meters. Applying the NCCC Ladder competition's categories to the claimed
> > >> scores for the FEBRUARY Sprint CW for the last 5 years shows some
> > >> interesting details.
> > >>
> > >> # stations in top 20: West of the Miss East of the Miss
> > >> 2005 16 4
> > >> 2006 17 3
> > >> 2007 14 6
> > >> 2008 13 7
> > >> 2009 14 6
> > >>
> > >> # stations in top 10: West of the Miss East of the Miss
> > >> 2005 9 1
> > >> 2006 9 1
> > >> 2007 8 2
> > >> 2008 6 4
> > >> 2009 8 2
> > >>
> > >> # stations in top 5: West of the Miss East of the Miss
> > >> 2005 5 0
> > >> 2006 5 0
> > >> 2007 5 0
> > >> 2008 5 0
> > >> 2009 5 0
> > >>
> > >> To no one's surprise, I'm sure, these statistics show a pretty clear
> > >> advantage for stations West of the Mississippi River in the February CW
> > >> Sprint.
> > >>
> > >>
> > >> Let's look at the statistics for the last 5 SEPTEMBER CW Sprints:
> > >>
> > >> # stations in top 20: West of the Miss East of the Miss
> > >> 2004 9 11
> > >> 2005 14 6
> > >> 2006 9 11
> > >> 2007 10 10
> > >> 2008 8 12
> > >>
> > >> # stations in top 10: West of the Miss East of the Miss
> > >> 2004 4 6
> > >> 2005 8 2
> > >> 2006 6 4
> > >> 2007 4 6
> > >> 2008 6 4
> > >>
> > >> # stations in top 5: West of the Miss East of the Miss
> > >> 2004 2 3
> > >> 2005 4 1
> > >> 2006 4 1
> > >> 2007 3 2
> > >> 2008 4 1
> > >>
> > >> The September Sprint is much more equitable but it is still tough to
> > >> break
> > >> into the top 5 if you are East of the Mississippi.
> > >>
> > >> So, to follow up on Andy N2NT's question:
> > >> - Should there be any changes made to the February Sprint?
> > >> - Should the February Sprint start an hour earlier?
> > >> - Should 160m be added? (or replace 20m?)
> > >> -or-
> > >> - Should Sprint results simply be reported with different/additional
> > >> categories? (sorry, Tree!)
> > >>
> > >> 73, Ted W4NZ
> > >>
> >_______________________________________________
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>
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