[CQ-Contest] re: Casual contesters...

[KEN SILVERMAN]

 >Put another way, over half
 >my QSOs were with stations that I had never worked on that band and mode
 >before.

 >Does this mean that the ARRL DX contest attracts more casual DX
 >participants, perhaps because of WAS? Or????

 >73, Pete N4ZR


HI Pete,

We have done a similar analysis on the 6Y4A, 6Y2A, 4M7X logs (which were all
M/M events, generating around 16-18,000 QSOs each CQ WW CW).

Basically what we found was on any given contest, better than half of the
individual callsigns were only worked on one band.  In other words, if we
worked 9,000 unique callsigns one year, more than 4,500 of those callsigns
were only logged on one band, providing only one QSO.

This % is consistent over all operations.  What this suggests is there are a
lot of casual guys out there, which are the bread and butter of making it
fun for a lot of us.  It also shows who the die-hard ops are :-)

In addition, the callsign turnover on a yearly basis was also on the order
of 50% or more.  So if we worked 9,000 calls in one year, only 4,500 showed
up in next year's log.  And the mix was 1-band QSO guys, as well as 6-band
QSOs.  To me, this just suggests there is a VERY large pool of casual guys
that hand out QSOs, and the pool rotates a lot.

Just think about the patterns of somewhat active contesters... unless you
have a favorite contest that your life revolves around, any contest on a
year over year basis is a hit and miss prospect.  While I personally try and
get on (from the DX end) for every CQ WW CW, any other contest is a whim,
and based on the time my schedule permits.

For what it's worth...

73, Kenny K2KW
www.k2kw.com
www.dxholiday.com


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