Hi Clarke and all, Yikes, this subject is sure bringing folks out of the
woodwork. That is good i think. Here are some things to mull over.
1. Is the reason there is a decline in contest activity because the "playing
field" is not level???? I don't think so. Look back in old QST's at contest
results. There were TWO entr
ant categories: Single op, Multiop. And multipliers were arrl sections.. not
grids. That is about as unequal a playing field as we have ever had, yet
there was a LOT of activity. Maybe participation is declining because the
ham population is declining or at least the ham population interested in
this stuff. Plus there are a LOT more things to do these days!!
2. Does giving increased value for qso-distance help level the playing
field?? At first glance it does. Heck, a 500 mile QSO should certainly be
worth more than a 5 mile one! But as Clarke says, going to grid squares did
not make for scoring equity. I was around before and after and I remember
(living in FN20 at the time(!)) thinking that when grid multiplier started
my score was going to go down relative to other stations in more remote
locations (I was a very "competitive" person at that time...). But this did
not happen. In fact I think grid squares actually made the situation less
eqitable. The east coast stations had a whole lot more multipliers available
to multiply their large qso total by. While I haven't studied this situation
and should probably not pretend like i know, here's my gut feeling look at
the "distance-multiplier" situation: Take a big unlimited multiop in West
Virginia (let's say) and one in Wyoming, dead band both places. The station
in WV can work every station in every grid within 500 miles and the big
stations up to 800 miles away on 8 or 9 bands. To the north and south the WV
station works all the grids on the East coast because there are stations in
all of them. To the west it's a bit iffier but with rovers probably most
grids available. The WY station has the same power antennas and bands as the
WV station, but a much lower population density. That station works a third
of the grids to the west and maybe half in other directions. So the
population density which would seem to only affect qso total affects the
multiplier as well (same thing that happened with the change to grid
squares). This could certainly be changed with rover stations, but my
experience with rovers is you often miss them when they are in the grid that
you really need. They show up and disappear. That is the nature of roving.
But then that is a different story... Anyway, maybe the distance-multiplier
thing levels the playing field somewhat, but I'm not sure it makes the
western stations able to compete heads-up with the eastern ones. I will say
that the "graduated grid square value" that Clarke offers is better than
having every contact be worth a value based on its distance. In the east
there are more contacts, both short and long so the eastern scores will
always be higher. But I guess just plain "trying it" is the only way to know
if something really helps the situation. I'm OK with that. What the heck....
3. If there are too many different categories (I am suprised at how many
different ones there are now!) there comes a point when there aren't enough
entrants in each category for a meaningful competition. I'm not saying there
are too many categories now, but we have to be careful. Winning first place
out of ONE is not much of a victory!
4. I have no idea what to make of the HSCW thing, either. I like hearing the
other guy too, but then I am an old-fashioned guy... This really does need
to be studied.
5. Why do we do this? (Or as Clarke says, "What is the point of the
contest?") By reading some of the comments I would guess for some it is to
"WIN". Well, heck, it IS a contest, a "competition" so that's the point on
some level. But i have entered many many VHF contests in the forty-some
years I have been doing this, and most of them I never had a snowball's
chance in hell of winning!! I certainly didn't enter to WIN. I entered to
have fun, work a few new states or sections or whatever, get some new gear
working, check out some new antennas, talk with my buddies (if only
briefly), and maybe on competitive level see if i could beat out the guy
that beat me by 200 points the year before, or move from 12th place in the
New Hampshire section to 11th... These days I go out roving in Northern New
England with 4 bands sometimes. I do not "win"! I'm just thinking of myself
here now, but I just DON'T REQUIRE A "LEVEL PLAYING FIELD" TO HAVE FUN or to
want to enter the contest!!
Blah blah.
Changing the rules so everyone will be happy is a lot of work (and, of
course, totally impossible). So before we do this, let's look at the bigger
picture. Things need to be brought up to date, but i don't think everyone
will ever have an equal chance to win.
That's all I have to say and i'm gonna go be quiet now.
Seeya all on in less than 2 weeks from K1WHS!!! (unlimited multiop 50MHz
thru 24GHz from *Maine* - we will do our best from our skinny little "corner
of the country"!!)
bill, K1DY
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