[CQ-Contest] East coast vs. West coast

[K7LXC at aol.com]

In a message dated 98-01-29 17:59:44 EST, broz at csn.net writes:

> Echoing Trey's comments I would suggest the secret to winning is
>  to pick the contest/band/mode, maximize your station, and sharpen 
>  up your skills.  

      Right. If you pick your own battle, you have a greater chance of
success.  I can't beat Tree, Trey, Ralph, etc. on HP SS but I can be
competitive in LP SS.  
>  
>  If you can't do the big stuff on all bands then become a band
>  specialist and choose your favorite band to concentrate on.

       How true. Look what VE3BMV did with single band efforts from a city
lot. You can have different artillery for different parts of the sunspot
cycle. And look and how much hardware you DON'T need then. You only need
antennas for that band and not five others.

      It also helps YOU understand the nuances of each band that you wouldn't
get if you just showed up when the EU path was open. 
>  
>  You need hardware of course, but skill is the most important
>  factor.  Give me a great op from a mediocre station anytime over 
>  a mediocre op from a great station.  From out west (a mediocre to 
>  poor location) all it takes is the combination of a great op AND 
>  a great station. 

     I agree. My opinion is that the operator is 80% of a station's success
and the hardware is 20%.
>  
>  But I also understand the need to benchmark one's progress
>  as one is honing his/her skill level.  Being 27th is no fun unless one
>  knows that the 26 higher finishers had much bigger stations.  I
>  can certainly see the usefulness in having contest reports that
>  indicated station capabilities.  But it is also clear that this
>  can't be done in the major magazines under the current economic
>  conditons of publishing.  So this may best be handled by NCJ or
>  CQ Contest or by the internet.  I for one would love to know what the
>  competition is running as a way to calibrate station performance.
>  
     Mark Wilson, ex-AA2Z, used to list the station in his SS write-ups back
in the 80's although it is humbling to find out you were killed by an A3! They
don't have the luxury of doing that anymore.

     A few years ago I got an 80M CQWW card from a JA who listed a bunch of
other stations that he had contacted with your and THEIR real signal reports.
This was fascinating to see how you really stacked up against the competition.
You could see who was first layer, second layer, etc. 

73,  Steve  K7LXC


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