October QST

[AA6KX at aol.com]

The mailman finally brought my October QST yesterday, days after I had heard
comments from the east coast that led me to believe the ARRL DX contest
results were burried in the back under a footnote.  Instead, what I see is an
issue with more emphasis on contesting than I have seen in years.  That can
only be due to your efforts to raise the visibility of contest activities in
QST and gain greater prominence for the contesting community.  My personal
and sincere thanks for your efforts, and my compliments on what I see as
excellent results.  

What absolutely jumps out at me in this issue is--
--A cover photo of every ham's dream station.  This picture is art,
gentlemen.   REAL antennas like that make my heart throb.
--An announcement on the cover that this is the DX Contest issue.
--A full page (p.13) of color glossy photos giving some background for that
gorgeous cover photo.  
--In the contest results themselves, a whopping total of 25 different "top
ten" and "top five" boxes to highlight the high scorers.  I know that you
have had people long argue the case for more of these kinds of boxes in order
to give recognition to the little guns, and the fact that the granularity you
use is now so fine that I can even find my call in one of them indicates that
you indeed have succeeded in reaching down to the little gun!  Good work.
--Space is included in the contest results for 13 different photos of
contesters in action.  Not only that, but I observe an intelligent mix in
this presentation--domestic/DX, individual/group, returning big gun/newcomer,
etc.  
--A writeup for the contest that indicates you really were a part of the
event yourselves.  Yes, the CW weekend was a genuine surprise, with
conditions far better than most people expected.  Conversely, just as you
stated, the phone weekend was slow and tedious but with some surprising 10m
opportunities.  It may be just a matter of personal preferences, but I
thought the writing conveyed interest and excitement in the topic, was lucid
and well-organized, and gave encouragement to the people who almost (but not
quite) made it to the top.
--The results listings contained a new column for "hours worked", a first for
this event.  I know this is of great interest for the part-time contesters,
and I'm sure they appreciate your efforts in their behalf.

In summary, I think you did a great job with this issue.  We can't expect to
see a focus on contesting in every issue, but it is nice to get a break from
the steady diet of newcomer-oriented issues and see some open encouragement
for those newcomers to upgrade their skills and join the contest next year.
  The October issue of QST definitely accomplished that.

73...Bruce Sawyer, AA6KX