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Re: [CQ-Contest] NAQP CW - Rules Changes Needed

To: RT Clay <rt_clay@bellsouth.net>
Subject: Re: [CQ-Contest] NAQP CW - Rules Changes Needed
From: WW3S <ww3s@zoominternet.net>
Date: Mon, 9 Aug 2021 15:26:15 -0400
List-post: <mailto:cq-contest@contesting.com>
I think many opinions have strayed far from Petes original point….assisted ops 
ARE ALREADY there. They are forced to enter as M/2. Pete was simply asking why, 
why not create a single op assisted, instead of forcing us to enter as M/2. 
Btw, assisted ops do operate in the Stew Perry, they just enter as a check 
log…..

Sent from my iPad

> On Aug 9, 2021, at 1:07 PM, RT Clay <rt_clay@bellsouth.net> wrote:
> 
>  I was asked what will change for the unassisted ops if an assisted class is 
> added. I would expect that if an assisted class was added, close to 50% of 
> the entrants would go assisted. That would make a big change on the dynamics 
> of the contest:
> 
> 1. Cluster pileups on rare mults. In NAQP even with a small station (I 
> operated NAQP for years with only wires...a tribander at 50' would have been 
> huge) you can still find mults and not have to fight through big pileups. 
> This will make the contest less friendly for small stations. Even small 
> stations can run in NAQP. If there are many assisted stations who are always 
> calling the rarer mults first, the run rate may actually go down for small 
> stations in more common states.
> 2. The whole strategy of band choice and mult finding would change. Because 
> mults count per-band and NAQP is short, finding mults on multiple bands is a 
> big deal. This weekend I found 10 open to the east coast later in the 
> afternoon (2200z?). Very few were there. Later 15 was open to W9. A ZF moved 
> me from 15 to 10 when nobody else was on 10. Finding these openings is part 
> of what makes NAQP fun and challenging. With the reverse beacon network these 
> openings would be discovered instantly, and unassisted ops would find them 
> easier as well (it is easier to see 10 is open when a whole bunch of assisted 
> ops are there). You can argue that this would be better and allow more qsos 
> to be make, but it would certainly take out part of what makes the contest 
> interesting and makes skill count.
> 
> #2 is also why unassisted stations should not be allowed to look at their own 
> callsign reports in reverse beacon during the contest. Hint: want to see if 
> 10 is open? Check the beacon band 28.200-300...
> 
> BTW ncjweb.com now has results available all the way back to the first NAQP 
> (1991). NAQP has grown quite a bit in popularity so I don't see what needs 
> "fixing" about it. High scorers now are making twice as many qsos as in the 
> 1990's.
> 
> 73 Tor N4OGW
>   On Monday, August 9, 2021, 6:45:15 AM CDT, Kevan Nason <knason00@gmail.com> 
> wrote:  
> 
> It was after several trips to a multi-multi that the assisted bug bit me
> hard, so I understand the “old school” viewpoint.  Although most all my
> operation now is Assisted, I welcome the NAQP to keep unassisted skills
> sharp. That’s because, IMHO, Assisted ops don’t generally score high
> without also being good runners and having strong S&P skills. Let’s keep
> NAQP’s unassisted. Besides, there are evidently several people who like the
> rules as they are. (Many have forgotten it, but there is word called
> “compromise”. Not every contest has to try and please everyone.)
> 
> 
> 
> Wait until participation goes down before changing the rules?  You think
> people would come back in after leaving?  That doesn’t sound like a good
> idea to me. We want to encourage more new contesters, not discourage the
> old ones that are still here. If anything, keeping old folks around who
> want to be assisted is actually a reason to change the rules. It would be
> good to keep them happy. On the other hand, changing to allow Assisted
> might drive some out. Experience says people are more likely to stick
> around and keep griping if things stay the same; as opposed to more likely
> to leave if they don't like a change that was forced on them. Let's leave
> it alone and keep more people contesting.
> 
> 
> 
> As a separate issue, people talk a lot about abusing power limits in the
> NAQP’s. I noticed (and later post-contest read a comment from a second ham
> that he too experienced the same thing) that within a minute or two of
> showing up CQing on a new band I would have a rush of people calling me. It
> was remarkably similar to being fresh RBN meat in a contest that allows
> spotting. After the initial rush, things settled out to normal rates. Just
> as it does in a contest where people are using spots. What’s up with that?
> It happened often enough to be suspicious. Rhetorical question, but don’t
> people with well known calls read the rules? It was suggested it was SO2R
> operating. Both the other ham and I thought we were found way too quickly
> for that to be plausible. Occam's Razor suggests spotting assistance was
> being used by too many people in this contest.
> 
> 
> Art, are you implying people who like assistance are wimps?
> 
> 
> Kevan N4XL
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