In a message dated 4/17/2008 1:10:15 AM Greenwich Standard Time,
k0rc@pclink.com writes:
> I was looking over the FLQP rules and was surprised to see the 80m band
> (nor
> 160m) is not an operating choice. During the MNQP, over 15% of the contacts
> are logged on the 80m band.
>
> What is the thought/background/reason for this decision?
>
Bob -
Thanks for your interest and query. This topic was addressed in the 2007
write-up lead which I will repeat below. First, though, one very important
difference to note: The FQP does not count Florida counties as multipliers for
Florida entrants. Minnesota does, as does PA and a few others. That tends to
drive people to the lowest band open and makes it a regional QSO party and the
FQP consciously steered away from that philosophy.
From the write-up:
"We’ve resisted including 80 Meters in the FQP for a number of reasons, but
it might be worth restating them, since we get a few inquiries each year about
that. First, we wanted the FQP to be more than a regional QSO Party. This has
been successful to date as we’ve had a winner from CA and a county sweep from
Europe. Any activity on 80M is likely to be regionalized. Secondly, we wanted
the mobiles to be on equal footing. Erecting a mobile antenna for 80M is
non-trivial, especially one that tunes
on both modes. Thirdly, there are only 2 hours of darkness in Florida out of
the 20 operating hours. In higher sunspot years, 20 Meters remains open the
entire time and it’s hard enough to get people to move to 40 for a little
while,
let alone 80. We
don’t want to change the rules several times each sunspot cycle to
accommodate the conditions of that period. Fourth, we actually have some
empirical
evidence. We
included 80 Meters in 1998, the first running. Activity levels there were
dismal. I believe we took a survey after that event and the vast majority voted
to remove 80 Meters. We’re quite aware that it reduces the number of contacts
that our close-in W4 neighbors can make. But read on and you’ll even see some
great success
from TN and SC this time! "
73, Dan, K1TO
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