[CQ-Contest] Interminable CQ-ing Solutions

[Ward Silver]

That time is far too long...propagation often changes dramatically in 10
minutes, much less over an hour.

This is primarily an issue on 160, where the useable band is narrow (see
below) and the really long-haul openings short - like less than 15 minutes a
lot of times.  You have to CQ a lot for DX stations to be able to hear you
during that little window of time.  For example, there is a 30-minute window
around sunrise where it is possible for me, Mr. Small Caliber Weapon, to
work DX stations beyond Japan and Hawaii.  If I can't CQ then, I might as
well forget it.

I agree that a lot of 160-meter contesting seems to be "who can handle the
drudgery."  Out of 48 hours, about one-quarter of those are fun.  Until the
scoring changes from QSOs x Multipliers, it will remain that way, too.  The
10-Meter contest is about to take on those same characteristics as the
sunspots fall, but you won't hear any complaining about CQ-ing because the
band is really wide and antenna systems cover most of it.

Is 160-meters a really narrow band?  It is if you have a narrow-band antenna
system.  There have been some big improvements in tuning and matching design
that should allow more of us to start using the band up around 1900 kHz and
beyond.  That would help a lot, except for the narrow allocations for many
countries, and there we're back to square one.  Sigh.

Here's some ideas, none of which are very appealing...
- you can CQ until you make 10 QSOs, then you have to S&P for 10 QSOs (no
dupes)
- you can CQ until you make 10 QSOs, then you have to QSY at least 10 kHz
- you can CQ for 10 minutes, then you have to S&P for 10 minutes
- you can CQ for 10 minutes, then you have to move 10 kHz

This has become far too serious...
- you can CQ until enough little pistols vote you off the frequency using a
Web site
- you can CQ only if you're not on either coast
- you can CQ only if you didn't win your section/state/zone last year
- you can CQ until you work a new multiplier, then you have to move or S&P
for a while
- you can CQ for an hour, but then you have to go do chores
- you can CQ until the temperature of the amplifier exhaust reaches 200
degrees F, then you have to S&P until it reaches 120 degrees F
- you can CQ only if the regional long-path QRO DXers know your first name
- you can CQ until you work ten guys, then you have to chug a beer and run
out to the tower and back (I'd pay to see this...)
- you can CQ until you fall asleep and then you have to go to bed

73, Ward N0AX

> > Maybe a contest could be run or a rule added where every other hour you
> > would not be allowed to call CQ. What if you had a rule that stated that
> you
> > are only allowed to CQ during the even hour if you call has an even
number
> > for the first number and during the odd numbered hour if you calls first
> > number is odd.