On Tue,11/10/2015 4:34 AM, Drew Vonada-Smith wrote:
Kelly has nailed this one. It is appropriate that we take reasonable care to
equalize competition within a simple system. For example.
1) Let's separate high and low power
2) Lets separate assisted operation
3) Lets separate when more than one person operates, or more than one
transmitter.
4) Let's divide up results by geographical area.
Sound familiar? Yes, one could go farther, but where does it end?
There are many possible improvements/solutions that could be made in
scoring systems. As a kid, I remember my parents participating in
amateur bowling leagues that operated on a handicap system. A handicap
system with operators competing based on their performance within the CQ
Zone where their station (defined by RF) is located would be a great
start. A similar system is currently in use to determine seats in the
next WRTC.
With this kind of system, an operator's total score would be divided by
the average score from all the operators in his class in his zone. This
simple adjustment, easy to do by the contest sponsor after log checking,
corrects for propagation and geography. It does NOT account for
differences in stations, but many of us, me included, consider station
building part of contesting.
Think distance is not a good metric? Try working EU on 160, 80, 40, or
10M from W6. Why is this important? Because that's where the
multipliers are. A handful of 80M is possible only for stations with
great antennas, and we still must get through the east coast wall. 40M
is better, but still mostly limited to grey line conditions on one end
or the other, and optimum hour(s) in the middle of the night. I haven't
heard EU on 160M for three seasons! 10M opens from W6 to EU about 10% of
the time that it opens from EU to the east coast. The differences are
clearly shown in real time on websites like this one. The map can be
selected to show individual continents and the world.
http://www.dxmaps.com/spots/map.php?Lan=E&Frec=28&ML=M&Map=W2LN&DXC=N&HF=N&GL=N
Even on 20 and 15, east coast stations are at a considerable advantage
-- because they're 2,000-3,000 miles closer, openings are longer and
stronger (they're one hop closer) they don't go over the Pole to get there.
73, Jim K9YC
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