[CQ-Contest] Is there more to contesting ?

[Pete Smith]

At 08:12 AM 11/11/00 EST, K3BU at aol.com wrote:
>The propagation factor in contesting and operating is the big magnet and 
>mystery to us. There is such a range of conditions and putting some computer 
>model and rules on it is still very fuzzy. Propagation prediction programs 
>are trying to make some sense of it but they are still far from being 
>reasonably accurate. You add to it some high performance antennas, and the 
>range extends by some hours beyond what computer says should be happening. 

With respect, Yuri, the programs do a great job if the idea is to make
design decisions for your station based on smoothed average conditions.
Statisticians can tell us the extent to which the conditions on a given day
will vary from what the program says they "should" be, but we all know the
variations are often quite large.

Also, the new generation of propagation software make it not only possible
but desirable to specify antenna characteristics at both ends of the
circuit.  That was the thrust of my query about the "average" antenna and
power of casual contest entrants from Europe, to validate a basic antenna
type and power level for use in propagation prediction.

73, Pete Smith N4ZR

Contesting is ... Extreme Radio

The World Contest Station Database 
is back up and running at
http://www.qsl.net/n4zr 



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