The only advantage of being further west and south is better propagation
into the Far East and better trans-equatorial propagation. It's fairly
rare when the JA, etc., activity is good enough to even come close to
equalizing the east coast EU advantage, but it does happen.
At any rate, limiting the contest to 24 out of 48 just so the west coast
can be more competitive is not a good idea. Like some other DX stations
have pointed out, this is a DX/WW contest, not an SS or even ARRL DX
contest. It's nonsense to think you can fix the problem with this time
restriction anyway. I'm all for trying to equalize the point spread, but
limiting the operating time for single ops just to appease a small portion
of the world in difference to the rest is pretty insensitive. I suppose
you want to do the same for multi's as well?? How do you cure the "A,B,C,
HC8 island" advantage? You dont.
Any changes should involve redistricting for QSO points or the
aforementioned 1 point for working your own country. I personally like the
1 point/same country QSO. From my experience with the RTTY WPX, it doesnt
even come close to turning it into another SS, but it does make some small
contribution to equalizing scores in larger countries (such as US :) and
should also equalize the current disadvantage of using a US call with a
"rare" prefix.
A much better move IMHO would be to offer US regional awards. Divide the
US up by call areas or CQ zones, etc., and get some sponsors lined up so
that you can have separate trophies for, say, zones 3, 4, and 5 or even by
each call area. All it takes is money! Start out doing SOHP AND SOLP next
year and see where it goes...
Hey, if I want to compete for the top money in SS I know where I have to
go...and it ain't in 1,2,3, or even 4 land! Luckily, the ARRL and other
sponsors fund a plentiful number of Divisional awards so I can stay home
and still win some hardware with a good effort.
OK, this is my last post on this topic ...PROMISE!!
73, Ty K3MM
Please respond to k4oj@ij.net
To: k2av@qsl.net, cq-contest@contesting.com
cc: (bcc: Tyler G Stewart/BENN/CEC)
Subject: Re: [CQ-Contest] CQ-WPX..A Modest Proposal
K2AV is kinda right, but missin the point when he wrote:
I stand by "Nuthin, but nuthin will eliminate the advantage the East
Coast has to EU." The advantage is in the distance, the propagation, the
length of open propagation, when DX goes to other bands to make points
with other parts of the world, etc. We are discussing how to *mitigate*
that advantage, are we not?
Once upon a time Lew Gordon wrote an excellent article in the NCJ (I think)
which captured the essence of what contest savvy is about. In it he talked
about the one weekend when conditions favored a hams particular QTH and he
was able to take the ball and run with it...so to speak. He spoke of that
operator being ready for and up to the challenge, his running skills honed
to maximize the run times, his propagation knowledge allowing him to be on
the right band at the right time for those odd multipliers...
Reality is that sure in essence K2AV is correct in assuming that the NE
will usually win a DX related contest, but what is being talked about here
is reducing their geographic advantage by allowing the other parts of the
country to have a comparable amount of run time.
The Northeast's early ascension to DX competition hotspot was reached by
guys like W1BPW who had tribanders on low towers...the West Coast guys were
beat not because they didn't have better antennas, or their operating
skills were lacking but because someone who was willing to keep his
buttocks glued in the chair made the most of a large amount of marginal
runtime into EU.
NE wins frequently because they don't just run at the peak of the openings
they run for hours on either side of the peaks in submarginal conditions,
as an ex-W1 I have listened to that phenomenon for a cycle, because they
are close they can make it happen at less than the top of the opening
times.
Limiting the total amount of on time and picking it from a much longer
total contest time is perhaps the least played up part of contest lore.
Maximizing your on times by minimizing the impact of your off times is
talked about a lot as regards the Sweepstakes....but since most of the DX
competitions are iron man 45 hours on events it is not an element.
Having to pick when to take your off times when viewed as picking the least
harmful times is a better way to look at it than saying operate 24 out of
36 or whatever.....
West coast stations have done very well at times in the various contests
most notable I think was the W7RM victory in the ARRL DX multi multi
category....don't tell me Rush moved Foul Weather Bluff to Massachusetts
for a weekend!
Of course if you wanna do an ironman event and operate an entire contest
which is 20 hours and has a time off on Saturday night for you to sleep
remember that, it is:
Less than a month til the Florida QSO Party!
73, see you in the FQP
Jim, K4OJ
Florida Contest Group - visit our website at:
http://www.4w.com/deemer/fcg.htm
What's an FQP? The Florida Contest Group is pleased to announce the
rebirth of the Florida QSO Party, check out the FQP website@:
http://home1.gte.net/wd4ahz/fcg/ssqp.htm
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