I'll probably regret doing this, but here goes anyway!
PY2FUS wrote:
"Under my view the 10 point for another continent QSO is
not really fair when you compare continents with a large
amount of stations, like NA and EU, both under the low
noise of the winter, and a QSO between EU or NA with
continents facing a hot summer as OC, SA and most of AF."
This is the crux of the "DX Window" problem. As the
rules were previously written, the window was set aside for
INTER-continental QSO's only, but that was never enforced.
As a result, it was quite common for very strong NA Caribbean
stations to run USA in the window, which was technically a
violation of the INTER-continental rule. Also, it was
not unusual to see some European Big Guns park in the window,
working NA stations (perfectly legal under the rule), but also
answering other EU stations (not legal). This was not allowed
by the rules, but there was never any enforcement to disallow
INTRA-continental QSO's by CQ. Now just imagine the howls of
protest if W4ZV parked on 1832 calling "EU ONLY" (perfectly
legal under previous rules) AND also answered and received
credit for local USA stations that called!
I won't mention the other problem that the current 1830-
1835 window does not include frequency allocations for many
Asians (JA, HL, etc). The window concept is basically unfair
as it was written for the reasons Ron stated and it was also
unenforceable (or at least CQ chose not to enforce it). I
personally think CQ's decision was a good one, since there is
no way to write a rule that is fair to all. I will also add
that I felt exactly the same when I operated CQ 160 CW from
Colorado (not the East Coast) for 9 years (never losing to
any US single-op in Zones 3 or 4). Even then, I worked most
DX OUTSIDE the DX window during contests, mostly answering
CQ's in S&P mode. The "DX Window" was usually filled with huge
pileups of USA working strong NA/SA stations, which completely
covered weaker EU signals.
Flame suit on. IMHO we will all benefit more by working
on our receive antennas than we will from looking for a "magic
crutch" in the form of a DX window. 160 is simply an unforgiving
band, especially in a contest, and a DX window will NOT solve
that fundamental fact.
73, Bill W4ZV
P.S. Even if no INTRA-continental QSO's WAS enforced, AND
NA/EU were banned from CQ-ing there, the window would STILL
be an "unfair" advantage for stations in P40, EA8, 5B4 or KH6
compared to other stations in LU, ZS, JA or VK (within the
same continental boundary but much farther from EU/NA). I
challenge anyone to write a DX Window rule that is fair to
all, and I'm sure this is why CQ gave up on it. Sometimes
(actually most of the time) life is just unfair!
P.P.S. Definitions for non-English speakers:
INTER-continental means between continents (i.e. NA-EU).
INTRA-continental means within continents (i.e. EU-EU).
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