re; [CQ-Contest] Response to K5ZD's comments.

[Jim Smith]

No it isn't too long.  48 hours is just right.  That's 48 hours of cw 
and 48 hours of phone.

Maybe if we changed the Indy 500 to the Indy 250 we'd have more serious 
competitors.

I will never be in the top 25, let alone in the top 10.  I'm a serious 
competitor, although not a threat to anyone beyond the VE7 level, and 
not even then when the really good ops choose to get on.  I am not a 
mere "participant".

Serious is an attitude, not a skill or station level. 

Shortening the contest will reduce the number of entrants because some 
who can get on now will be cut out because the contest isn't running at 
the time they can get on.

Can I op the full 48 hours?  No.  I'm too old.  Do I bitch because those 
who can op the full 48 beat me?  No.  I applaud them, recognizing that 
this isn't a contest for the faint hearted.  Go, ironman, go - and give 
me a few Qs while you're at it.

There are plenty of contests with limited hours/mandated rest periods 
for the old farts, etc.  Being an old fart myself, I enjoy them too. 

I have a very modest station on a 33 x 120 ft city lot.  Do I envy the 
guys with a ton of aluminum up 240 ft?  You bet I do.  Do I think they 
should be limited to the same antennas I can put up?  No way.

For the benefit of Ham Radio there has to be a place for those who want 
to go full out and press the envelope in every way to do it.  Progress 
is made on the edge.

I believe that a common reason for suggesting that a contest be 
shortened is that the suggester finds that there is no one left to work 
in the last few hours.  I've never run out of people to work in the ARRL 
DX.  I have run out of people who can hear me. 

For those who think they have worked everybody I can only suggest that 
they have found a deficiency in their station and that they should do 
something about it, like put up more aluminum, rather than request that 
the contest be adjusted to suit their situation.  If they don't have the 
resources to do that, tough.  This, as well as a few other contests, is 
the America's Cup of Ham Radio.  The guys with the resources battle it 
out and we all benefit from the lessons learned and the skills 
developed.  We also get to sail along beside them and have our own 
contests, whether we define them to be at the regional level or simply 
try to do better than last year.

Another approach to having more people to work is to introduce more 
people to contesting.  Invite non-contesters to your shack, give them 
some training and do a multi-single.  Talk contesting up at whatever 
clubs you belong to.  Get the club station on the air during contests, 
operated by the folks you trained at your station.  It won't be long 
before some want to start doing this from home.  Challenge your 
contesting buddies across the country to do the same.  While this won't 
help you in the ARRL DX, it will in many other contests.

I have found training contesters to be a very rewarding activity. 

73 de Jim Smith   VE7FO


> NH7A wrote :
>
>  - Is the ARRL contest too long?  48 hours is better than 2 weekends, but
>would 24 hours be even better?  As it is now, there are only a few
>competitors at the top of each category.  Everyone else is in
>participant class.  Would shortening the contest enable more guys to
>compete seriously (i.e. be on for the whole contest)?  Or is this
>"contest" run as a DX/WAS chasing promotional activity?
>
>
>  
>