[CQ-Contest] Categorically Speaking...

[tombaugh]

Here's my take on this for what it is worth.
If the intention is to encourage additional participation, I'm all for it.
If by doing this we are just reorganizing things so that more participants
can recieve a certificate then I'm not for it.
Competition is just that. A chance to compete against others in an event.
For some reason a reward or award is the goal instead of the thrill of the
competition. How rewarding is it to win a category that has no other
competitors? I understand the frustration of having to compete against
bigger, better stations. Of "never having a chance to win" because of X or
Y. Winning is in the heart. If a certificate is neccesary to feel
accomplishment then our focus is wrong. Would a plaque for a "one hour just
got home from work and had to get everything ready before I started"
category be in order? That guy did more than many to get on the air.. but
nobody is going to reward him for his efforts. maybe the ARRL or CQ or other
entity could start a category equivalent to "This guy gets on the air every
contest and scores in the top 50%" category". Seems to me.. that guy already
knows he's getting on for the competition and contest commraderie. That's
what makes my clock tick! Sometimes you do well and sometimes you don't but
the judge is looking you in the mirror every day. I'm all for more folks
getting on the air! But if we're just spreading the awards around to
different folks by making new or different categories.. the hobby will not
have GAINED anything.. just the individual(s).

Tom Baugh
AE9B
----- Original Message -----
From: "Pete Smith" <n4zr at contesting.com>
To: <Jimk8mr at aol.com>; <cq-contest at contesting.com>; <n0ax at arrl.org>
Sent: Tuesday, February 04, 2003 6:29 AM
Subject: Re: [CQ-Contest] Categorically Speaking...


> At 11:58 AM 2/3/03 -0500, Jimk8mr at aol.com wrote:
> >If present contest sponsors aren't interested in adopting such
alternative
> >scoring system, it need not be the end of the idea.  Other groups could
pick
> >up the ball... the only extra effort on the participant's end would be
typing
> >a second address in the "Send To:" field when they e-mail their logs.
There
> >would be a lot of work to be duplicated at the sponsor end, but that may
be
> >the price of progress.
>
>  From time to time, people suggest that it's time to have a separate class
> in the big 2 DX contests for people who wish to operate only 24 hours
> rather than 48.  For those of us to whom this appeals, it seems as if it
> would add an element of strategy, without the physical stress of doing the
> iron-man thing.  To date, the organizers have been uninterested.
>
> Seems to me that, capitalizing on Jim's basic notion, I (or anyone else)
> could offer a 24-hour plaque.  The only requirements would be that an
> entrant send in a copy of his log and an entry during the normal log
> submission interval; then we would all wait until results are posted by
the
> organizers, and the winner would be decided based on their log-checking.
>
> If there is sufficient interest expressed, I'd be willing to organize a
> test of the idea, around the upcoming ARRL DX Contest.  What say, folks?
>
> 73, Pete N4ZR
> The World HF Contest Station Database was updated 1 Feb 03.
> Are you current? www.pvrc.org/wcsd/wcsdsearch.htm
>
>
>
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