[CQ-Contest] Barking Up the Wrong ARRL DX Tree

[Kenneth E. Harker]

On Tue, Apr 05, 2005 at 11:56:36AM -0400, steve.root at culligan4water.com wrote:
> > ARRL 160 and 10 seem to favor the midwest/west as well to a 
> > large degree. 
> 
> You're kidding, right?  Both the ARRL 10 and ARRL 160 involve 
> working a lot of Europeans, at least by the top stations.  
> Explain how anybody "midwest/west" has a better shot at 
> Europe on 160 meters that W1/W2. 

The ARRL 10 Meter Contest is fairly well balanced when it comes to intra-W/VE
competition.  The last map (http://www.wm5r.org/maps/2003arrl10/) on this 
page shows where the 10 highest U.S.A. scores are in each entry class and 
power category.  As you can see, top performers are spread out all over the 
country with the exception of the Pacific Northwest.  In 2001 (closer to
the solar cycle peak) even the Pacific Northwest got in on the top scores
more frequently: http://www.wm5r.org/maps/2001arrl10/

In 2003, the W/VE winners were:

category    call    section
---------------------------
SO MIX QP   K9OM    NFL
SO MIX LP   K8IA    AZ
SO MIX HP   WC4E    WCF
SO SSB QP   W7YA    ORG
SO SSB LP   W4IX    SFL
SO SSB HP   W5PR    STX
SO CW  QP   N5TW    STX
SO CW  LP   WD4AHZ  WCF
SO CW  HP   N4BP    SFL
M/S         NE4AA   WCF

This would seem to imply an advantage to those in southerly latitudes, 
with a particular advantage to Florida.  Nobody from the Northeast wins - 
but stations in Arizona and California do!  Going back in time, the 2002
W/VE winners were:

category    call    section
---------------------------
SO MIX QP   KG9X    IL
SO MIX LP   VY2TT   MAR
SO MIX HP   W9RE    IN
SO SSB QP   NX9T    NC
SO SSB LP   W3EP    CT
SO SSB HP   W5PR    STX
SO CW  QP   VE5UF   SK
SO CW  LP   K1TO    WCF
SO CW  HP   N2NL    SFL
M/S         N2NT    NNJ

This is a smattering of locations everywhere from Saskatchewan to southern 
Florida, Connecticut to southern Texas.  No true west coasters, but plenty 
of west coast stations make the Top Ten boxes.  Going back one more year,
the 2001 W/VE winners were:

category    call    section
---------------------------
SO MIX QP   KG9X    IL
SO MIX LP   WE9V    WI
SO MIX HP   KQ2M    CT
SO SSB QP   K5RX    NTX
SO SSB LP   N2NB    NLI
SO SSB HP   W5PR    STX
SO CW  QP   KG5U    STX
SO CW  LP   K1TO    WCF
SO CW  HP   K1KI    CT
M/S         N9RV    IN

So, this breaks down to 30% Midwest, 30% Northeast, 30% South Central, and
10% Southeast.  And this is near the peak of the solar cycle.  None of 
the stations with repeat victories are in the Northeast.


At the very least, you should conclude that the ARRL 10 Meter Contest is
one in which the W/VE competition is decidedly not dominated by the 
Northeast.  It is a contest in which, even near the top of the solar cycle,
victors come from just about anywhere east of the 100th meridian, and even 
occasionally from west of that, and plenty of West Coast stations make 
the Top Ten.

-- 
Kenneth E. Harker WM5R
kenharker at kenharker.com
http://www.kenharker.com/