[CQ-Contest] TQP vs CQ RTTY

[Jimk8mr at aol.com]

In a message dated 10/2/2007 10:15:45 P.M. Eastern Standard Time,  
jjreisert at alum.mit.edu writes: 
 
    (in a different order, shown differently to fit my  comments - MR):



>>>>    There are just too many  contests.  Huge ones, big ones and puny 
ones.  They
can't all  co-exist on the same frequencies.  If you move the contests  
around,
you can minimize the frequency collisions.  But if everyone  refuses to give 
up
THEIR weekend, it's never going to happen.
 
 
There may be too many contests, but that is not what this thread is all  
about.  The small contests fall into the category of "trees falling in  the 
forest".  I can't think of any real reason for there to be a Nebraska  QSO Party, 
but if the guys in Omaha want to have one for the 6 people who  might show up, 
let them go at it. They do, they hold it on the same weekend as  the Florida 
QSO Party, and the world seems no worse for it.
 
 
>>>>   Sure, those in FL, CA, PA flourish, as do  some of the others like MI, 
OH, TN
(sorry, I'm not going to remember them  all), but many don't.  The New England
and 7-land guys have the right  idea.  Maybe some of the other call areas 
should
do the same.
 
There is a critical mass of activity that must exist for any contest to  be 
worthwhile. By assembling all the W1s or W7s into one contest, that mass  can 
be achieved.  W2 and W0 would seem to be candidates to do this. W6 by  default 
already has. W3, W4, W5, W8, and W9 already have several decent  parties by 
individual states.
 
Another way to achieve critical mass would be to hold several different  
parties from different regions at the same time with similar rules. The 1's,  7's, 
Indiana, and MARAC (the county hunters) hold their contests on the  same 
weekend. Unfortunately there is no logging software that is designed to  support 
simultaneous contests, so a person serious in one has a hard time  working any 
of the others.  If software writers could solve this problem,  and sponsors 
harmonize their rules to make the software guys job less  difficult, one good 
contest could be made out of several mediocre  ones.   




>>>>>    Free some slots so other  contests can be moved around.  For 
example, I think
there's a NAQP or  Sprint that lands on 40 meters the same time as the CQ WPX
RTTY contest  (I'm probably getting this wrong, but there IS such a  conflict
somewhere).
 
 
The February CW Sprint falls on the WPX RTTY weekend. Before the Sprint  
swapped weekends between CW and SSB, the CW Sprint fell on the weekend of the  XE 
RTTY DX contest.  So the effect on the 40 meter CW band was  about the same.
 
The main problem remains the duplication of DX RTTY efforts. A quick  review 
of the QST Contest Corral listings shows RTTY contests by:   UK, BARTG Sprint, 
XE, BARTG, EA, SP, VOLTA, ANARTS, DL-DX, SARTG, SCC,  Russia, JARTS, and OK, 
all with the same format of anybody in the world  work anybody else, 
multipliers consisting of host country provinces + DX  countries + (in some cases) call 
areas in W, VE, JA, and VK, on an per  band basis.  Most run 24 hours, some 
go for 48 hours.
 
Perhaps if some of these contests could be shortened, combined, or  scheduled 
concurrently, the critical mass for a truly good contest could be  achieved 
and at the same time the every-weekend RTTY QRM on 40 meters  minimized.
 
 
 
73  -  Jim    K8MR










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