Yes, this is a very good idea. Many low-budget contesters find it hard to
get good antennas for all the 6 bands, yet find that a weekend stuck on just
one band can get rather monotonous. A Low or High Band entry gives a guy/gal
more enjoyment and variety without the need for the such a big antenna
set-up.
But why keep it just for the ARRL DX Test ? Surely there are other contests
where this would work as well.
Who should we write to in order to get this idea really moving ????
Tim, EI8IC
www.qsl.net/ei8ic/
HF and Budget Contesting Information Site.
Recently updated - Faster navigation, new Contesting pages and resources.
At 01:25 PM 6/18/02 +0000, Dave Hachadorian wrote:
>With the advent of ARRL's enhanced on-line contest reporting, constraints
>on the number of contest categories imposed by available QST space are
>removed, or at least reduced. Computerized log-checking has also reduced
>the need to minimize the number of categories in contests, since the
>administrative overhead has been reduced.
>
>I'd like to see the High Band (10, 15, 20) and Low Band (40, 80, 160)
>categories restored in the ARRL DX Test. There are a number of reasons why
>I think this move would enhance the contest world-wide:
>
>1. Declining JA activity has made it much more difficult for western USA
>stations to compete in all categories, but especially the all-band
category,
>where absorption on 40, 80, and 160 precludes big European runs.
>
>2. There are a lot of stations around the world who have a small tower and
>tribander in the back yard, and an assortment of low, seriously
>compromised antennas for 40, 80, and 160. There is not much incentive for
>these stations to get on the air in the all band category, since they know
>that they cannot turn in a competitive score. On the other hand, a
>tribander can do a quite creditable job on the high bands, which would
>encourage activity.
>
>3. The single-band category, while enabling disadvantaged stations to be
>more competitive on one single band, rapidly gets to be pretty boring.
>
>4. The High band/ low band categories would enable SO2R operation, making
>the contest much more interesting than single band category, where SO2R is
>impracticable for most people.
>
>To me, the payoff in any contest is to enjoy the contest experience
>itself, and, afterward, to to see how I ranked, with the data arranged the
>way I like to see it presented. I really don't care about QST listings or
>certificates. By the time QST and the certificates come out, the contest
>is old news. Coupled with the ARRL's growing accent on Internet score
>reporting, I think the additional categories would add a spark of growth
>and an interesting new dimension to the ARRL DX Test.
>
>Respectfully,
>
>Dave Hachadorian, K6LL
>Yuma, Arizona
>K6LL@despammed.com
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