[CQ-Contest] W4ZV's Most Disruptive Contest

[Jimk8mr at aol.com]

In a message dated 8/21/01 12:16:29 AM Eastern Daylight Time, 
w4an at contesting.com writes:

> W4ZV said here on August 18th...
>  
>  "In my opinion, the CQ 160 SSB is the most disruptive contest
>  of any amateur contest on any band...and I have personal experience
>  with most of them.  Here's why:  (((bunch of reasons)))"
>  
>  
>  W4ZV has obviously not experienced the Phone Sprint.


CQ 160 SSB may well be the dumbest "major" contest, in that the only winning 
operating strategy is to get a frequency at or before the beginning, and 
never relinquish it afterward.

I don't think it is the most disruptive.  The big SSB DX contests win that 
dubious title, with phone SS close behind.   If you fill up the higher phone 
bands, (especially in low sunspot years when ten doesn't really qualify as a 
band),  add a good dose of low band split frequency operation where a guy 
4000 miles away determines whose non-contest qso is about to get clobbered, 
and I'll say that beats the CQ 160 SSB. 

The phone sprint disrupts, but a given band only gets hit for 2 hours or so.

There are far more single mode (SSB) operators than single band 160 meter 
DXers. Like it or not, that will be more true in the future. There is no 
point in telling these guys to try CW.  At least now we can suggest to these 
SSB guys that they can check out the WARC bands if they don't like the QRM.  
Likewise we can suggest that the 160 meter CW DXers check out some other 
bands if the SSB contest QRM is too much for them.

If we have to protect 160 meter CW DXers from disruption (one weekend a 
year),  it won't be long until contesters have to protect everyone else from 
disruption.  When that happens, we will be left with two ham radio contests:  
The PED Party and the RUFZ Roundup.

73  -  Jim  K8MR


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