Thanks Tim. There is strong consensus within the CAC that promotion is
definitely an important part of the solution. I've pushed that very hard
myself, pointing out how successful N6DE has been at it with CQP, which,
as I understand it, attracted more logs that CW SS. Dean and the
committee work recruit and coordinate expeditions to our many rare
counties, some of them rather remote, to make sure that all have
sufficient activity so that sweeps are possible on both modes, and
ideally, on both days. Our committee's writeup of results this years run
(first weekend in October), was posted to the CQP website in December. I
think it ran more than 30 pages, with detailed results for counties and
states.
There are awards for single-day expeditions, for modes and power levels.
Our team is extremely proactive. A month ago, I posted a link to the CAC
reflector. https://www.cqp.org/Results.html
And yes, most committee members realize that contest duration and one
QSO per station are critical to leveling the playing field both
geographically and between large and small stations to make the contest
interesting for all participants. The only rule change for which there
is strong consensus is to allow the use of more than one callsign by the
same operator at the same station, counting each callsign as a separate
entry. A lot of operators at multiple contest clubs have been trading
stations to do this for decades. I'm told that N3QE has activated as
many as four calls and stations in SS. I done so close to a dozen times.
We are learning that club competition in SS has been seriously broken
for a long time. When the gavels were up for grabs, multiple clubs in
the large club category submitted close to a hundred logs each; since
the same club, PVRC, has taken the gavel for close to 20 years,
participation started falling a decade ago from the competing clubs. A
similar situation exists in the medium club category. And one of the new
members of our committee got a complaint from a club in his division
that his Small club was beaten in a different contest by the
contribution to the winning club of ALL of the points from a Caribbean
expedition.
I've made the suggestion that locally based teams could help boost
activity in SS. I'm pretty convinced that it has in NAQP and Sprint.
But any serious analysis of logs over the last decade clearly show that
a large cohort of SS operators are aging out each year. Many factors,
everything from health, being able to live where we can have a station,
and so on. W6OAT, K4BAI, N6AA K2VCO, and I started out around the same
time, and started working each other in SS, CD parties, and morning
traffic nets before we headed off to school. We're very close to the
same age. I'm 84. Another running buddy here was N3ZZ; he's four years
older. K2RD has Parkinsons. So does NI6T. And K9OR.
One of our members says the guys he represents are too burned out from
CQWW SSB. Others blame football for Sunday's decline.
In addition to promotion, we're thinking about recruiting new contesters
from the many local general interest clubs. SS is not the entry point
for new contesters, but there are many contests with simple exchanges
and relatively low intensity that are great places to start. FD, RAC,
NAQP, ARRL 10M, ARRL DX, CQWW and WPX ARE great entry points. So are
state QSO parties.
So a huge part of our challenge is replacing ourselves. We see
contesting's (and ham radio's) future as attracting young people.
Most of the committee view SS as an important part of training operators
for EMCOMM.
73, Jim K9YC
On 2/9/2026 8:34 PM, Tim Duffy wrote:
From: Tim Duffy [mailto:k3lr@k3lr.com]
Sent: Sunday, February 8, 2026 12:07 PM
To: Jon Zaimes, AA1K (jz73@verizon.net); 'Dan Kovatch'
Cc: 'Ward Silver'; 'Jahnke, Bart, W9JJ'; 'ac0w@arrl.org'; 'ag3i@arrl.org'
Subject: CAC Discussion about Sweepstakes activity
Hello Gentleman;
Last night was the Feb. CW NA Sprint contest. Many stations worked more than
300 QSOs in four hours. Activity was at an all-time high.
What changed? Promotion. Aggressive emails to CW operators and assembling
teams via clubs and other active participants. Activity problem fixed.
In my opinion, fixing the activity issue during CW SS does not require any
rule changes. It simply needs promotion. Get another 200 or 300 stations to
get on and the contest will be fine - just the way it is.
Thank you for being on the CAC and for your guidance concerning contesting.
73
Tim K3LR
-----Original Message-----
From: CQ-Contest [mailto:cq-contest-bounces+k3lr=k3lr.com@contesting.com] On
Behalf Of Jim Brown
Sent: Monday, February 9, 2026 12:55 PM
To: cq-contest@contesting.com
Subject: Re: [CQ-Contest] Should contest ops QRS?
On 2/8/2026 6:54 AM, Mike Smith VE9AA wrote:
My reply to him/all is below his question.
Thoughts?
I represent the Pacific Division (NorCal, NV, KH6) on the ARRL Contest
Advisory Council, and the major topic for the last six months has been
how to save Sweepstakes. Participation has been dropping drastically, as
OTs like you and me have been aging out (I'm 84, my first SS was in '57).
Solving this very difficult problem involves bringing a thousand hams
into contesting, first through the contests with easy exchanges, then
stepping them up to the more challenging SS. Working at the slower speed
that Fred practiced is critical to that effort. For more than ten years,
I've been part of a team with W6GJB and W6JTI that has won SS in 1A
Battery more than half of the years we've entered. We work only CW, our
speed tops out at 26 WPM, and we'll slow down for slow callers.
There's a LOT more to contest math than sending speed. All of us who can
work faster need the little guys, the new guys, to work. This problem
shows up late Saturday night in SS (my rate went into the cellar around
06Z, causing me to hit the sack before 08Z, my midnight), and we all
know that Sunday is dreadful. That's NOT because the contest is too
long, it's because our stalwarts are aging out of being able to
participate.
2025 CW SS had fewer logs than 2025 CQP. Think about that when setting
your sending speed. Contesting is no fun when we've run out of stations
to work.
73, Jim K9YC
_______________________________________________
CQ-Contest mailing list
CQ-Contest@contesting.com
http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/cq-contest
_______________________________________________
CQ-Contest mailing list
CQ-Contest@contesting.com
http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/cq-contest
|