[CCF] The future for Scandinavian Cup in SAC Contest?

Mon Nov 8 03:14:51 PST 2010

Hi!
I don't see the correlation between sunspots and number of logs
when looking at the statistics.

Please see:
http://www.qrq.se/contestspalten/wp-content/SAC-2010-Karlsborg.pdf
and take a look on page 4 and compare with the sunspot cycle on page 7.

There is an up-going trend in participation both within and outside
Scandinavia despite the solar cycle. But still, if we look at details
(not in presented in the PDF) you may see that OZ, LA and others are
lagging compared to OH & SM. For instance OZ has approx. equal amount
of amateurs as Sweden, but not so many active contesters. So there is
a lot of potential.

I agree that SAC is very much of being on the 'right side' of the pile-up
and in order to have good pile-ups we need to be active on a broader level.
Not only the top-notch stations, but also the average ham should be encourage
to participate. High activity from Scandinavians will lead to higher activity
from outside Scandinavia, i.e. making the contest less boring for them.

I believe that the Scandinavian Cup is a big motivator for an increase
in participants from all countries. In addition to the cup it would be possible
to make other cups, like Top-Ten Cup, Team Cup or whatever. It's much easier
these days, using result robots and the Internet.

I think the increase in SM logs are due to an overall interest in contesting but
also a long-term promotion of the SAC Contest on the web, emails and in our national
magazine QTC.  Nowadays we also get good support from the SSA Board members in these
activities.

73
Ingo SM5AJV / SE5E

> Hi Mats.
>
> Maybe the reason for many not to participate is simple: no sunspots --> poor propagation --> no
> motivation to operate. Most stations, after all, are little pistols and can not work when the
> propagation sucks. I tried to operate with my 100W & G5RV remote station and quit after an hour as
> couldn't get even the first QSO in the log.
>
> I wonder if there is correlation between SAC log count (especially from the more passive
> countries) and high sunspot number..
>
> 73, Esa OH7WV  @BY4
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: ccf-bounces at contesting.com [mailto:ccf-bounces at contesting.com] On Behalf Of Mats Strandberg
> Sent: 8. marraskuuta 2010 3:45
> To: TOEC; CCF Postituslista; oz-contest at contesting.com; lacc at radiosporting.info
> Subject: [CCF] The future for Scandinavian Cup in SAC Contest?
>
> Hello all Scandinavian/Nordic contesters!
>
> A few days remain until the logs for SAC SSB 2010 has to be submitted.
>
> We can however already now see that Finland has an exceptionally high points
> per log advantage. This proves that OH is more endurant in SAC than any
> other Scandinavian country. It also (most likely) proves that there is more
> aluminium at a higher height in the Finnish locations compared to other
> Scandinavian countries.
>
> Congratulations to Finland for excellent score with considerably fewer
> operators!  (see below)
>
> Sweden is the OVERALL winner for the second year in row thanks to an
> excellent amount of logs (more than half of the logs totally are Swedish).
> Also the strong average point per log in the CW section made Sweden a
> successful country already when the CW section was over.
>
> The reason for this email is to open the discussion how we can improve SAC
> in the eyes of Non-Scandinavian participants - and also to inspire other
> countries than Sweden and Finland to have a higher participation in SAC.
>
> Sweden, Finland (with Aland and Market Reef) represent not less than 90% of
> all logs in SAC. This is NOT a good sign that participation from all
> Scandinavian countries is more or less equal or representative to the amount
> of hams in each country.
>
> How can we stimulate our Norwegian and Danish friends to be better active in
> SAC???
>
> Iceland has on average quite a good participation in SAC, but 7 and 5
> million points in SAC from Norway and Denmark seems at least to me as a sign
> of non-sufficient promotion for contesting in those countries.
>
> The Scandinavian Cup was initiated to be a stimulator for national
> competition within the Scandinavian/Nordic countries, but what we have seen
> the past years is a development where SM and OH is fighting for the 1st and
> 2nd place, and where LA is always at a safe third place, and where OZ is
> more or less fighting for the 4th place with OH0 (despite the fact that
> Aland Islands has only 1/5 th (20 %) if the logs compared to OZ...
>
> This is not a satisfactory situation according to my personal opinion.
>
> Shall we remove the Scandinavian Cup from the SAC?  Shall we create a
> "Finnkampen" concept where only SM and OH is competing (like in Athletics) -
> or shall we try to boost the activity from ALL NORDIC/SCANDINAVIAN countries
> the next year (SAC 2011) ???
>
> Norway and Denmark in this case need to make a FULL EFFORT in changing the
> situation and by encouraging new hams to the field of contesting. I think
> that active contesters in both Norway and Denmark agree that the potential
> for improvement is huge...
>
> We are ready to help with ideas and suggestions. The Swedish improvement is
> not based on huge investment in aluminium and steel, but rather a logical
> development of raised promotion for contesting as such.
>
> Please have a look at www.hfcup.se and see that close to 300 Swedish
> contesters are active in International contests on a regular basis. Such
> similar national contests could also stimulate the participation in contests
> from all other Scandinavian counties. It is only to "copy and paste" our
> idea.  Steal with pride is another way to express it...
>
> If we can increase the total amount of Scandinavian  logs in SAC from the
> present 544 logs to, let us say 750 logs, the interest for SAC will increase
> accordingly... This does not seem like an impossible figure, BUT it requires
> active promotion from the HF Contest Managers in all the countries.
>
> 73 de R3/SM6LRR, Mats
>
> SAC 2010 Scandinavian Cup (CW & SSB)
> - Claimed Score
>
>   *Nr* *Country* *Number of logs* *Score* 1 Sweden 287 44.310.431 2 Finland
> 136 36.013.350 3 Norway 66 7.229.178 4 Denmark 35 4.911.727 5 Aland Islands
> 8 4.543.473 6 Iceland 6 1.611.586 7 Faroe Islands 3 543.896 8 Greenland 1
> 507.964 9 Svalbard 1 332.785 10 Market Reef 1 13.615
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