[CQ-Contest] NCJ Call for Inputs - Contesting on a Budget

[PaulKB8N at aol.com]

Topic for the upcoming NCJ issue:  Station Sharing, More Fun Per  Buck?   
There are many challenges that are changing the  face of Ham Radio contesting 
today.  Some are sociological challenges, such as the urbanization of  
America, along with many covenants  and restrictions, that have forced the most 
competitive of us to relocate to the  country. Other challenges are related to the 
pace of life that we lead, as our  hectic work schedules in our competitive 
marketplace have eaten into our  precious free time.  Other  challenges are 
economic, many of us face finances that are stretched to the  point that our ham 
radio dreams take a back burner to family expenses, not to  mention college 
expenses for our kids. 
This all seems to a growing  vortex that may drive fundamental changes in the 
way we operate contests.  If you’ve been following the reflectors  lately, you
’ve probably heard a lot of talk about “leveling the playing field”  and 
having categories for the 48 hour contests that may include shorter  operating 
periods, such as 24 or 36 hour entries. 
With your help, this upcoming NCJ  issue’s Contesting on a Budget column will 
explore what I refer to “station  sharing”.  This is something like  
multioping, except under separate callsigns.  For example, the 30 hours of 
Sweepstakes  could be divided into two 12 (or even 15) hour contests, each under a 
separate  callsign.  The advantage is that new  callsigns generate more activity, 
allow internal competition on a truly level  playing field (from the same 
station), and afford the overall contest a  faster-paced competition that demands 
less of our individual precious time and  resources.   
There are some very interesting  combinations and permutations of this 
concept.  In CQWW, for example, a multi-multi  station could host two competing 
teams under different callsigns, each operating  24 hours.  Fresh callsign, fresh  
blood, fresh contest, fun and friendly competition! 
A crazy idea?  Not so, says Tom, K5RC, who has hosted a  station-sharing 
effort for Sweepstakes over the past three years.  According to Tom, this has 
breathed new  life into the contest scene from his station, and has proven to be 
great  fun.  This has also been a topic of  discussion recently within NCCC.  
They call it HMO, Highly Motivated Operators. 
I see this concept as a possible  way of increasing activity and perhaps a 
more productive use of resources, but  I’d like your thoughts, please: 
Is this a viable concept from a  practical and economic standpoint?   
Would you support rule changes in  major contests to facilitate this type of 
operation? 
Would you be more likely to  participate if you could operate a portion of a 
contest either under your  callsign, or with a group under a separate 
callsign? 
What contests might be the best  candidates for station sharing competition?  
 
Any other thoughts and ideas are  appreciated. 
I’d appreciate your inputs by  Friday, the 20th.  Thanks  in advance! 
Paul, K5AF 




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