[CQ-Contest] Why I Won't Be in CQWW CW This Year

[Marijan Miletic, S56A]

In the former YU we had two days national holiday on Nov. 29th.

CQ WW CW dates should have been changed 10 years ago :-)

I am sure John, K4BAI doesn't like CQ WPX SSB as it clashes with our
birthday parties!

73 de Mario, S56A, N1YU
  ----- Original Message -----
  From: John Laney
  To: Pete Smith
  Cc: cq-contest at contesting.com
  Sent: Monday, October 15, 2001 2:44 PM
  Subject: Re: [CQ-Contest] Why I Won't Be in CQWW CW This Year



  Hi Pete and all:  The reason that we can't switch most years is that the
  ARRL 160 meter contest falls on the first full weekend in December and
  the ARRL 10 meter contest falls on the second full weekend in December.
  I believe the reason that there is an extra weekend in between the CQ WW
  CW and ARRL 160 tests this year is that Friday is November 30 and the
  ARRL 160 M contest starts late on Friday UTC and therefore it is only
  when the first day of December is a Saturday that an extra weekend in
  December falls in there.

  Good news is that next year the last full weekend in November is the
  week after Thanksgiving weekend, so there is no need to change for next
  year.  This only happens once in a long while.  I recall it happened in
  1985 when I made my last trip to Haiti for CQ WW CW (as 4V2C).  Probably
  happened once in the 1990s.  Next year's calendar will have Thanksgiving
  on November 28 and the CQ WW CW contest on November 23 and 24.  That
  will be the last full weekend in November.  The next weekend, November
  30 and December 1 will not have any major contests, since they never
  (almost never?) split months.

  My suggestion is that ARRL consider moving ARRL 160 and ARRL 10 one week
  later, let CQ move CQ WW CW to the first full weekend in December.  That
  would put the ARRL 10 on the same weekend as the new (but pretty
  popular) Croatian DX (9A) Contest (I think).  But maybe they would like
  to have the third weekend in November instead.  Conditions should
  generally be better for them in November than in December and they don't
  have a national holiday to interfere with (I assume that).  The possible
  downside is that conditions for ARRL 160 and ARRL 10 would be one week
  further removed from the Equinox and therefore possibly one week worse.

  So, if we are to have some relief from the Thanksgiving holiday problem
  you mention, it would probably require work a long time in advance and
  cooperation from ARRL, CQ, and the 9A contest sponsors.

  The last weekend in November has a long tradition for CQWW CW, but it
  means that I miss Thanksgiving with the family and wedding anniversary
  (Nov 23) with my wife nearly every year.  Fortunately, my children are
  both still local to us even though out on their own.

  We married on Saturday of the CQWW CW contest in 1974.  I had already
  been a ham 20 years and it was my favorite contest.  Weesie (short for
  Louise) and I had dated for 2 1/2 years and she knew that ham radio was
  important to me and that I went to the Caribbean for CQ WW CW nearly
  every year.  But, she wanted to get married on a fall weekend when the
  local football teams (Georgia, Auburn, Alabama, and Georgia Tech) didn't
  have home games.  So she chose Nov. 23 and I agreed.  I got to operate
  only Friday night of that contest.  Saturday was taken up with
  pre-wedding breakfast, lunch, etc., and we got married in the
  afternoon.  We got to Jamaica for our honeymoon while the contest was
  still running.  I had the phone number in Montego Bay (where the plane
  landed) where my friends N4TO and W4QM and others were operating 6Y5BF,
  but I had the good sense to leave it in my pocket and try to leave ham
  radio behind for that one week.  Unfortunately, we both got sick with
  the flu, rains nearly washed the north coast (the roads at least) of
  Jamaica away and the honeymoon was pretty terrible, but that is another
  story.

  So Pete, your solution won't work (except for this year and it's too
  late for that).  But, mine might work over the long haul, so why not
  contact N1ND, K3EST, and the 9A sponsors and see if it might actually be
  adopted.  Next year isn't a problem, so two years out would give plenty
  of time for planning and publicity.

  73,

  John, K4BAI/8P9HT.


--
CQ-Contest on WWW: http://lists.contesting.com/_cq-contest/
Administrative requests: cq-contest-REQUEST at contesting.com