George et al.:
Here are some numbers. First, the number of logs submitted for the
three ARRL VHF/UHF contests since 1975 from QST write-ups (note a few of
these numbers are estimates or interpolations, but the overall trends
should be correct):
Jan June Sept
1975 590 340 285
630 410 230
780 490 340
840 480 330
890 510 410
1980 995 500 380
970 540 390
940 590 448
950 510 436
800 590 450
1985 880 530 434
890 630 460
840 691 386
845 650 400
930 650 425
1990 910 600 439
912 480 415
958 610 591
1036 818 621
1200 820 714
1995 1150 837 720
1150 921 710
1020 837 752
1010 800 700
900 701 606
2000 820 710 582
799 680 553
Whereas it is true that the numbers are down over the last few
years, the current levels are comparable to (or better than) most of the
1980s and clearly higher than the mid-1970s.
Now, let's look at the highest national QSO totals on 6 and 2 in
June and Sept (since 1987):
June Sept June Sept
Hi Qs Hi Qs Hi Qs Hi Qs
6mtrs 6mtrs 2mtrs 2mtrs
1987 985 281 615 555
1988 688 338 673 573
1989 366 380 574 672
1990 527 359 656 699
1991 630 396 599 510
1992 976 418 641 870
1993 732 373 778 697
1994 472 417 752 883
1995 558 343 833 702
1996 1161 404 786 643
1997 674 493 864 762
1998 1358 562 770 671
1999 1077 607 725 736
2000 1104 668 655 700
2001 909 957 607 963
Over the last few years, six meter qso totals have been higher
than EVER, and two meter totals as high as ever. These data are only for
the single highest total each year, but they reflect the overall trends
for many stations and many regions over the years. The increase on six
(and perhaps also on two) is partly due to the incorporation of that band
into main-line HF rigs. QSO totals have generally gone up on other
bands as well, as we have more rovers and others using more and more
bands, and almost ever year several records are broken in various
categories in various regions. (I have similar data for Grid totals,
which vary quite a bit more from year to year with changing band conditions.)
In summary, activity is up, but log submissions are down somewhat.
We dont need to change the rules, we need to send in our logs. (I have
plenty of opinions about proposed rules changes that I may put into
another message. My overall feeling is that we have plenty of categories
and distance scoring is not a good idea -- because better stations and
operators already are rewarded with distance worked because they get more
grids. That is the beauty of the grid system; more distance, more
grids.)
73, Curt Roseman k9aks
On Mon, 2 Sep 2002, George Fremin III - K5TR wrote:
> On Mon, Sep 02, 2002 at 08:04:46PM +0000, Bill Olson wrote:
> >
> > 1. Is the reason there is a decline in contest activity because the
> > "playing field" is not level???? I don't think so. Look back in old QST's
> > at contest results. There were TWO entr
> > ant categories: Single op, Multiop. And multipliers were arrl sections..
> > not grids. That is about as unequal a playing field as we have ever had,
> > yet there was a LOT of activity. Maybe participation is declining because
> > the ham population is declining or at least the ham population interested
> > in this stuff. Plus there are a LOT more things to do these days!!
>
>
> I really wish someone would give us some hard numbers of this
> "decline in contest activity". I have seen this thrown up
> several times on this list in the last year but I do not
> recall anyone providing any proof of this "fact".
>
>
> Earlier this year I did look at the numbers of logs submitted
> for the threee major ARRL VHF contests and found that they
> were all within +/- 40-50 entries over those years.
>
> This does not seem like decline to me - it would seem that
> good or bad conditions would have at least this
> much affect on entries.
>
> From personal experiance I would say activity has been up
> but the only proof I have for that is some big 6m scores in the june contests.
>
> Anyway - I guess it just gets to me when I read folks claims of
> declining acvitiy without any proof to back it up.
>
>
> --
> George Fremin III - K5TR
> geoiii@kkn.net
> http://www.kkn.net/~k5tr
>
>
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