[CQ-Contest] Shall we argue how many Angels can dance on, the head of a pin?

[Hank Greeb]

A few contests (mainly QRP contests) have "simple wire antennas" 
category to distinguish from beam antennae.    I personally know that a 
8 dBd beam @ 50 feet makes a QRP Field Day station competitive with the 
100 watt category stations, particularly since the QRP station gets a 
multiplier of 5 vs 2 for the 100 Watt category.  I placed 2nd in Field 
Day, Class 1B 1OP Battery twice during the 80's with this antenna and a 
HW-9.  Distant 2nd, but 2nd anyway.

The same reasoning would hold for a station running full legal power - a 
full size beam @ 110 feet would "outclass" a simple wire antenna @ 25 
feet.  It's a matter of the number of categories one wishes to have in a 
contest.  Maybe we should have "dummy load antenna" category, wire 
antenna no higher than 10', wire antenna no higher than 30', wire 
antenna no higher than 50', unlimited height wire antenna, and similar 
breakdowns for whether or not you're looking at salt water, whether the 
soil in dry and sandy or wet and clay, whether you have a beam antenna 
of any sort, maybe even what kind of beam antenna you have.  If we 
choose enough categories, perhaps we can have a category winner for 
every entry.

72/73 de n8xx Hg

cq-contest-request at contesting.com wrote:
>
> Message: 11
> Date: Thu, 8 Nov 2007 22:26:38 -0800
> From: "Eric Hilding" <b38 at hilding.com>
> Subject: Re: [CQ-Contest] Shall we argue how many Angels can dance on
> 	the	head of a pin?
> To: <cq-contest at contesting.com>
>
> Dave, KA1NCN, wrote:
>
>   
>> Scores will not reflect the "type" of stations competing against each other. I hate to burst anyone's contest bubble here, but the reality is that part of the "type" of stations thing is so whacked out, it makes me wonder how intelligent, sharp people can keep hiding the need for "sweeping changes" under the contest carpet.  Really, come on now, can anyone honestly say that a "station" entering a QRP category with 5 watts to a three stack six element yagis on a hill in a rural area with sloping terrain is deserving to be considered the same "type" competing "station" as a QRP entrant running 5 watts to a shortened indoor attic dipole inside a low-rise city apartment building next to tall skycrapers all around?  Using only HP, LP and QRP output power levels to classify "type" of station (category or class of competition) without also taking antennas and terrain considerations into account is so cave man here in the High-Tech New Millenium.  It really is, and makes about as much s ense as trying to clone the sun with a burned out 5 watt lightbulb.Undoubtedly, it's gonna continue with "business as usual" until Doomsday ... unless enough intelligent, sharp people are willing to do something about this aberration of contest rules justice.*** End Of Personal Observations And Soapbox In This Matter ***FWIW & 73...Rick, K6VVA
>>     
>