Let's face it. The rules for this contest are not set in stone either.
Most of us can remember when USA to USA Qs were zero pointers. That was
fun, wasn't it? To run a string of 5 or 10 stations or so and get no points
especially if they were 1 by 3 calls which really were not needed.
There are inequities in all contests. SS usually favors western stations.
The ARRL 10 makes FL a choicer location than the NE etc.
The WPX is not really a DX contest. That concept disappeared when the
zero pointers disappeared. It is a hybrid of domestic AND DX, rather like
ARRL 10 meter contest. ALL Qs count for points and mults are domestic as well
as DX.
What does this mean, I'm not sure. To throw stones at NQ4I and say his
ideas are self-serving is unfair since no one except Rick knows his motives.
I'm not saying we should weight all Qs equally, but isn't it pretty unfair
for a western UA9 to get one point for working a Kamchatka station for
one point 5000 and miles away? But, he gets three points for all the high
density eastern EU stations which are relatively next door? This effect is
intensified when you drop down to 40 and 80 and really can skew the scores
for stations in rule favored areas. I think this is what Rick was alluding
to.
If you think about it, very few major contests have not changed the rules
from time to time. About the only one I can think of that hasn't is CQWW.
Were all those changes meant to benefit a certain station? I don't think
so. They were an action to get more stations in the contest...to make it a
better contest.
Maybe we need to look at it a different way. Will a given change make
more guys participate, rather than will this change favor a certain area. No
one will argue that in 2013, being a W6 is not the place to be and that
being on the east coast is better. Do we give W6 and W7 stations higher
points
per Q than a W1? Would that make it a better contest, with the definition
of a better contest being more people will participate? How about making
all Qs within a country 2 points? Would that increase participation? If
the answer is no, the change should not take place.
WPX is a popular contest, just like IBM was a great typewriter company.
However, times do change and there is nothing wrong with adapting your
company or contest to make it better. CQ does a great job with the contest,
but
they have changed rules in the past and most of us will agree the zero
point elimination was a good one.
Bottom line: Can any rule change make this a better contest? We should
give it serious consideration.
If the log checkers don't seriously whack me this year it looks like I will
win the WPX SSB...from south of Atlanta. I won it back in the early 2000s
too. However, it was not by points per Q. It was through sheer quantity
of stations worked, with a large proportion of them W/K stations. Tons of
one pointers. I'm sure the guys in W5 have as many, if not more one
pointers than I do
In the end, it's all up to CQ. My final comment on this is a hybrid of
Rick's rule and the present. Maybe 2 points for same country Qs on 10-20,
and maybe 3 points for 40-160? Again, would that increase participation?
Would it increase the amount of stations from W0, and W6 as well as other
parts of the world? If not, don't do it.
Please don't flame me as I am only acting as the devil's advocate here. I
plan to operate the contest regardless of the rules and am happy with the
contest as it is. However, as with anything that is a success, there is
usually something that can be done to tweak it to make it a little better.
One who proposes change does not always have a self centered motive. Martin
Luther King would probably agree.
Bill K4XS/KH7XS
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