zip code ranking

[Leonard Kay]

It seems the problem is that by using zip code, the west coast 
would be favored, and we 1-landers would have to move to Guam 
to be competitive. 

The *problem* is the zip code ranking is inherently
unequal. I propose the following:

1) 6-landers (including Pac) use:
          
	score x zipcode

2) 1-landers (including atlantic APO addr.) use:

	score / zipcode

3) Others could calculate a weighting factor based upon local 
  density of contesters with claimed scores in the Top 20% of last 
  year's contest, factoring in the great circle distance to either
  Hartford or Los Angeles, whichever is closer, in order to 
  correctly normalize to 6- and 1- land scores. Of course, this 
  would tend to favor Arizonans over Washingtonians (closer to LA)
  so a '7-land factor' would be added to the Washington weighting
  factor.

4) In order to make everything fair, 6- and 1- land contesters, 
   due to their inherent score advantage, will be required to
   subtract a handicap value from their claimed scores, which will
   be based on how many entries are received per call area. If there
   are a *lot* of 6- and 1-land entries, they have to subtract a *lot*,
   etc. This is to discourage people from moving to the coasts.

Len KB2R :-)