[CQ-Contest] Sprint Efficiency & Making More Qs

[Bill Fisher - W4AN]

The past few years we have seen a rise in the number of stations that start on 40 meters in the CW Sprint.   I think the SMC guys started this to help make sure they work each other before 40 goes long.  

I believe this is an extremely effective technique for everyone to make more QSOs, but should not be limited to just starting on 40 meters.  The more spread out the Sprint activity, the more efficient everyone is, the more QSOs everyone makes.  

For example:  If everyone starts on 20M, and K6NA calls CQ there... he will get 5 guys answering him (assuming that 20M is normal, and not short skip).  That is 4 guys who will have wasted their time trying to work him.  This inefficiency means that those 4 guys make less QSOs, and has a trickle down effect later when they continue to be inefficient on 40M and 80M.  Put these guys on 40M where their is less competition for a QSO, and you increase their efficiency because they are less likely to waste time losing in pile-ups.  This has an opposite trickle down effect by making everyone else more efficient in working them later on 40 meters.  And, these same 4 guys will now find it much easier to work K6NA after being on 40M for 30 minutes.

Another example:  I will go to 80M at 02:30Z with one of my radios.  All of the guys I work there early will be loud.  The more of these guys I can get out of the way from 02:30Z to 03:30Z, the more weaker stations I will work the last 30 minutes of the contest.  Why?  Because if I CQ, I will be able to hear the weaker west coast station because the loud local guys have all been put in the log and won't be calling on top of them.

If there is a loser in the contest being more spread out, it is the guys out west.  With their late sunset in September, they will not be able to take as much advantage of 2 bands being open at a time.  That said, I almost always work N6RT on 40M the first 10 minutes of the contest.    

73

Bill Fisher, W4AN