[CQ-Contest] My thoughts about IARU and HQ stations

[Tree]

1. Activity is a good thing to encourage.  Many of the HQ stations encourage 
their own countrymen to "wave the flag" and work them.  It would be nice 
however if they weren't so focused on winning - but rather just focus on
encouraging activity - which helps EVEYRONE in the contest.  When I 
encourage people to get on and "make a few contacts" - I am not trying to 
only have them work me.  Rather, I am trying to improve the activity level
in an activity I enjoy - and as the contesters get older and start leaving
us, activity will be even more and more important.  I think those who 
encourage people to only make 12 contacts are not helping the contest
stay healthy.  They need to encourage them to work more guys.  They are
selfish otherwise.

2. The IARU contest could be more marketing and be more proactive in 
encouraging activity.  The ARRL doesn't really feel that they own this
contest, but they administer it.  They don't "go the extra kilometer" 
to try and improve activity.  Could there be special awards given out
for working 50 QSOs?  Or maybe 200 QSOs?  I remember when we first had
this contest - it seemed like you could get stickers for all sorts of
different things.  Maybe if the contest was advertised as well as some
of the HQ stations, we can get more people on.  Of course, if the HQ
stations would just encourage their people to work more stations, that
would work too.

3. Counting QSOs with people that make 100 QSOs is probably too radical
of a change to make.  I will point out that we probably can handle it 
if someone made 20 QSOs from a log checking perspecitve, and maybe that
will be low enough to have a better chance of making it.  However, as I
remember only making one QSO in a CW Sprint contest from KL7, there are
still people who might be challenged to make even 20 QSOs in this contest.

However, if someone has the station to work 12 QSOs with one HQ station,
I think they probably have enough station to work another few stations,
even the HQ ones that are clogging up the bands.  Look in the results
and see how many scores there with 12 QSOs, six mults and 72 points.
That formula only works with 1 point / QSO working HQ station on six
bands and both modes.

4. I think the HQ station competition should be minimized in the results.
It is fun to operate as HQ (I have done it 3 times) and hand out the 
multiplier to the people active in the contest.  I think trying to work
many many people who are not really in the contest is not "doing the 
right thing" for the contest and does not really help improve the state
of contesting.  Who will be the first group to change their behavior?  
They will be the real heros in my book - instead of just yelling and trying
to say that what they are doing isn't crazy.  It is also nuts to see the
callsigns of stations who are the operators of the HQ station showing 
up in the log book.  This is just not right.  Also, they should note
the rules (ARRL General rules) against using a transmitter with more
than one callsign during the contest.  

73 Tree N6TR
tree at kkn.net