[CQ-Contest] Don't we need to change the sprint protocol?

[Kelly Taylor]

Hi Bill,

Maybe I'm being an overly glass-is-half-full kind of guy here, but I think
this problem illustrates one of the unique challenges to Sprints.

Without prejudice, the Sprint rules seem designed to celebrate the
get-it-right-the-first-time style of Q.

Now, that's not to say it's your fault if a static crash wipes out part of
the Q, but I think the rules are mute to issues of fault: those who get it
right the first time do better than those who, for whatever reason, don't.
To an extent, that's how all contests operate, but it's exacerbated in this
contest by the churn of frequency ownership. (Though if you're running in a
conventional contest and work someone who's a trigger-happy S&Per, you have
the same problem.)

Even so, this is only an issue when you're about to relinquish the
frequency, so I think those who suggest hanging on till the next Q to catch
the NR are, partially, correct.

True, if you miss it that time, you're basically screwed, but such is the
fate blowing in the ether, no?

I think to a person, everyone on this reflector will agree that Sprints are
by far the hardest high-participation contests going, for exactly that
reason. Which to me makes a victory all that much more impressive.

Interesting: I worked K1DG in the previous CW sprint (not the one most
recently held) and turned the frequency over to him. He called one CQ and
then buggered off. I found him almost instantly pouncing on someone else.
I've heard other guys not even bother a CQ after getting a frequency, I
assuming because they jumped on someone else on the other radio. All of this
means you may not get a chance to read the mail.

I guess it's a long way of saying that I think changing the sprint protocol
would be like lowering the Olympic hurdles by a few inches, widening the
mouth of the cup in golf or lessening the radius of Loew's corner in the
Monaco Grand Prix.

It might make it easier for those who aren't at the top of the game, but it
would diminish the accomplishments of those who are.

I think Sprints are the ultimate test of contesting ability and should stay
that way. If that means Sprints don't gain the popularity of SS or WW or
WPX, so be it. The rules as they are may make the contest difficult, but
most worthwhile things in life usually are.

73, kelly
ve4xt

----- Original Message -----
From: "Bill Coleman" <aa4lr at arrl.net>
To: "Rex Maner" <k7qq at netzero.net>
Cc: <cq-contest at contesting.com>
Sent: Friday, September 17, 2004 6:07 PM
Subject: Re: [CQ-Contest] Don't we need to change the sprint protocol?


>
> On Sep 17, 2004, at 9:26 AM, Rex Maner wrote:
>
> > I might be reading incorrectly,  However if the  QSO ends being busted
> > for
> > you and you remove it from your log then the Other guy is the only one
> > dinged.
>
> True enough, but that defeats the whole purpose of trying to work guys
> in a contest anyway, right?
>
> Bill Coleman, AA4LR, PP-ASEL        Mail: aa4lr at arrl.net
> Quote: "Not within a thousand years will man ever fly!"
>              -- Wilbur Wright, 1901
>
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