Randy has summarized the situation very well.
I think the 30-hour SOAB WPX format was very good, and I still think
that the new 36-hour format is a mistake. I would love to see the
contest go back to the 30-hour format -- it was the quintessential
world wide contest for "medium guns."
Anyone who has been in the contesting game for a long time will
recognize the following fact: The best ops with the best stations in
the best locations tend to win contests. There is not much mystery to
this aspect of contesting.
o The beauty of the 30-hour format is that it gives the best ops with
the best stations in the best locations less time to assert these
advantages over everyone else. This makes the race closer and more
exciting.
o Because the big guns spend fewer hours on the air, the bands are less
congested and this gives the medium guns more space to establish
themselves.
o Having to pick what you think your best 30 hours will be introduces an
interesting aspect of strategy that is not present in most contests.
o It's ok for contests to be different. There are plenty of 48-hour
contests available for guys who feel limited by the 30-hour format.
Not sure what else to say. This horse was beaten dead 10 years ago --
would love to see it come back to life!
--Trey, N5KO/HC8N
K5ZD writes:
> History has shown that the shorter time period enables more people
> to be competitive from more places around the world. For example,
> from W6, it is more likely to find 30 good hours that include Europe
> or JA propagation than it is to find 36 hours. Where from W1, we
> have 40+ hours of good prop to Europe. By limiting to 30 hours,
> both the W1 and W6 ops have the same amount of rate opportunities to
> work with.
>
> The biggest complaint against 30 hours is that there is a lot of
> time where you may be wanting to operate, yet can't. This tends to
> drive a lot of activity into the first 24 hours and then leave the
> bands a little emptier on day 2.
>
> As a side note, the WPX RTTY contest has kept the 30 hour limit. I
> am not sure what prompted the increase from 30 to 36 hours. Based
> on comments over the years, the guys who are on expeditions or in
> high rate locations tend to favor the longer operating time. The
> guys in less advantage areas have voted by giving up on the contest
> and so their comments have diminished.
>
> Randy, K5ZD
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