I don't normally get into these rule change discussions, because there are N
+ 10 opinions for every N hams, but it dawned on me that one or more of the
following are fairly easy to implement, might stir more activity on Sunday
afternoon/evening, and won't alter the contest enough to "hurt it" in the
eyes of most purists:
1. Split the time in half (15 + 15 hours, or the first 24 and last 6 hours),
and allow one QSO with each station in each segment. In other words,
everyone can work each station twice in the contest, but you have to stick
around to get the 2nd QSO. It might also help keep some of the rare mults on
the air for long enough that we can all find them. I suppose we could count
each multiplier once per half, thus giving folks incentive to try for a
double sweep, but that's probably overkill. Dupe checking is going to be a
bit more challenging, but pretty much everyone uses software that should be
able to easily tell us if we can re-work a station in the 2nd segment.
1a. Corollary to above - only allow the 2nd contact on a different band than
previously worked. A bit more challenging, because you can't move someone
after a QSO, but have to wait until the next segment of the contest to work
them on the 2nd band.
2. Give a QSO multiplier (1.5x ?) for contacts made in the last six or eight
hours of the contest period.
Obviously, high scores will change for the first two scenarios, but at least
folks will be incentivized to stick around at the end of the contest. I
don't think either option will stop folks from participating at the
beginning for a lot of reasons, and will make the strategy of choosing the
24 of 30 hours to operate a bit more challenging. IMO, the last six hours
are one of the few advantages for us West Coast operators - we don't have to
stay up until 10 PM (or later for folks in Atlantic Time) on a Sunday night
to finish the contest.
NC6K
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