In a message dated 2/15/2005 10:08:53 PM Central Standard Time,
nat@ajheatwole.com writes:
First, for working stateside, the propagation on the high bands favors the
west coast, Texas, and areas of the central plains and W4. And while you
could say that DX contest propagation favors the east coast, one great
appeal of the sprint is that one can be competitive from anywhere in the
country. A high band only sprint would take away this dimension.
And second, when the sunspots diminish, 10 and even 15 meters won't be of
much use. And as you say, "My motto is that if you don't have propagation,
make some," but sometimes the propagation just isn't there. Therefore, in
some years, this would be basically a mono-band 20m sprint, and don't we all
spend enough time on 20m?
Nat,
Your points are well taken, however, your observations about propagation
hold true for just about any type of contest that involves the upper bands.
As
far as 10 and 15M propagation during low sunspots, it is often amazing what
propagation is actually there even when it seems the band is dead. During an
NAQP, I worked LA, TX, OK and NM from here in Texas via some kind of wierd
fluttery skip on a band that otherwise seemed dead. This contest would reward
those that regularly check the bands for activity.
If we looked at the geographical advantage that supposedly exists and the
propagation or lack thereof in every contest scenario, no one would ever want
to
enter because they would feel they could never win. I don't do phone
sprints, but it seems that just about everyone on CW gets their turn to be in
the
winners circle, K1KI from the northeast, N9RV from the midwest, N5TJ from
Texas, N6TR from Oregon, and the late W4AN from the southeast and many others
from equally diverse parts of the country.
Comeon, we can think of a million reasons not to try something new. I think
the Sprint format and the quality of the Sprint contest experience are worth
trying in more ways than we're currently doing.
Thanks, Paul, K5AF
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