[CQ-Contest] QRP

[Randy Johnson]

As one who recently operated Field Day as a QRP station - it was an absolute blast!!!!! - I have a QRP suggestion. When a loud station who can't hear you stomps on you while you are vainly calling CQ in a "non-contest," it doesn't feel any better than when, as a weak station, you get stomped on during a real contest. 

It seems obvious to me that in any contest ALL of the big guns work each other. Right? So to some extent, a big score is dependent upon 

1. working the itinerant station who gets on for a half-hour and only works the loud stations, which they do anyway, and 
2. how many weak stations you work, some of whom, by definition, will be QRP stations 

If I am right, there is an incentive for ALL participants to create conditions where more QRP stations can be worked.  I'll let others debate the "special score" suggestion made below, but it seems to me as if it would make sense to create a "QRP zone" in contests where QRP stations wouldn't be as likely to get stomped on and where a BIG GUN who has worked almost everyone else can go find someone he hasn't. 

I would like to suggest that some 10kHz slot be set aside by gentleman's agreement for QRP to call CQ stations. For CW, the 060 to 070 slot might work well in smaller contest where activity doesn't get that high. Or how about 090 to 100 in the bigger ones?  It's not generally busy in domestic contest, and doesn't interfere with PSKer's and RTTYers.  Point is that if you pick that zone right, NO ONE ELSE can possibly get offended by feeling something is getting taken away from him.

This would have an additional benefit of encouraging more QRP stations to participate in contests. These days - total WA guess - but probably less than 5% of participants are QRP. Would creating this type of incentive encourage more to try a serious effort?

My suggestion is that, if I survive the flaming for this suggestion, those in power pick SOME upcoming contest, perhaps a state QSO part that gets a lot of activity, like CQP, and give it a trial shot.

Randy W6SJ


At the risk of being accused of excessive irony, I suggest that anyone who logs a QRP station in a contest should get double QSO points for the extra effort involved, and if the QRP station sends /QRP,the other station should get 4X points as a PITA bonus.

73, Pete N4ZR