[CQ-Contest] Where are the W/VE's

[KH6DV at cs.com]

We all wonder where the JA's are during contests, we all have been asking 
this question for some time.  From the mid 70's to the mid 80's you could run 
JA's from the West coast for as long as you could hold up.  There has been a 
decline in JA contest interest, no doubt about it. The decline in W/VE contest 
activity seems to be on a par with JA activity decline from my perspective. I 
work half as many JA's for a given effort now, I also work half as many W/VE's 
for a given effort. The following is typical:

ARRL DX SSB 80M Low Power
Year    Hrs.    Q's   Mults  Rate
1992    7.5     852   61      113.6  Steady activity
1995    7.5     661   57        88.1  Slow at times
2003    8.0     404   53        50.5  Darn boring

WPX in 1992 and 2003 had similar results from W/VE,  JA results in these two 
WPX tests were down 27%.   Same location and the same antennas.

None of this proves much other than the fact that were not having as much fun 
as we once did.  I suspect there isnt one answer nor one solution. I cant 
explain why I hear an amazing wall of JA's every time there is an expedition, and 
why many of the same stations aren't active during contests. Without input 
from the JA perspective were just guessing. 

Ron KH6DV