[CQ-Contest] The good old U.S. holiday weekend contest debate

[Dick Green WC1M]

This is a topic of lively conversation around my house, too. Seems to me the
easiest thing to do would be to alternate the CW and SSB weekends every
year. This would ensure that the contest falls on a convenient weekend for
everyone at least every other year. It would also give fans of both modes a
taste of conditions at different times in the annual cycle. 

As for throwing off the historical records, I don't buy that at all --
there's no way to make apples-to-apples comparisons with propagation
conditions varying substantially from year to year and cycle to cycle. The
truly meaningful comparison is the one that takes place between competitors
in the same contest, and even that is subject to significant variations in
equipment and location. All-time records are interesting, in that scores are
probably increasing over time due to computer logging, ever-larger stations,
improved skills, increased communication among contests via the Internet,
propagation and antenna modeling programs, etc. But whether the record is
set in late October or late November seems to me to be a matter of chance.
We've all seen fabulous conditions in one weekend and terrible conditions in
the other. 

I can't imagine there would be any harm in swapping mode weekends for one
year -- the following year would be the same as now, so we could continue
with alternating or stop doing it if people hate it.

73, Dick WC1M