[CQ-Contest] I finally get it !!!

[Eric Hilding]

Tom Haavisto wrote:

 

>Following your logic, you seem to indicate that simply adding more hardware
and real estate is all that is needed to win.  I don't buy it.

 

If you revisit the basic (archaic) HP-LP-QRP rules observation, the
illustration was not completely about SO1R vs. SO2R.  It was also about why
many LPCS operators are not motivated to put more hours in the chair.

 

>If station 1 is in Maine, station 2 in Florida, station 3 in Texas and
station 4 in North Dakota, other factors come into play.  Is it a DX
contest?  Station 1 will win hands down - >maybe.  Depends on the time of
year, sunspot cycle, and a host of other factors.  NAQP?  Other factors come
into play.  Look at the 10 meter contest last year - the folks in Texas
cleaned >up.

 

Very good points, and one reason my LQP event award categories were split
out by traditional call area Regions in addition to output power adjustments
for antennas used.

 

>One of the neat things about contesting is that spending money and adding
hardware is no guarantee of success.  Other factors come in to play.  Local
ground conditions for one.  Local >thunderstoms and noise.  Did it rain
recently?  Are things super dry and hydro poles are arcing, making noise.
Did it rain, and you have water in the traps on your tribander?  And the
>magic equalizer - propagation.  Do all the ops have the same skill level?
Same radios, or are some equipped with roofing filters?  CW or SSB contest?
What if your kids are sick, or you did >not sleep well last night?  These,
and a thousand other things come into play.

 

Also good points.  We all know the part Mr. Murphy plays at times in how the
dice roll.  However, given two equally skilled SO1R Contest operators with
all other factors being the same except for Murphy visitations, the
handwriting has been on the wall for a long time: a failure of Contest
Sponsors to make rules adjustments for the dramatic differentials in
hardware used that has evolved.and for the most part, does make a big
difference.

 

>SO2R is a tool - one of many.  Just as adding more hardware is no guarantee
of success, SO2R is no guarantee of a higher score. 

 

The only things guaranteed in life are death, taxes and uncertainty.  Yet
with all other factors being essentially the same (location, etc.) including
station hardware, the SO2R operator (perhaps the Sprint Contest excluded),
will almost always prevail.

 

Now that Skimmers will apparently become a part of Contesting life, the
ballgame will change once again.  This is why Contest Rules must remain
fluid.to adapt to changes.  The archaic HP-LP-QRP category rules have
remained rigidly obsolete for way too long.

 

73.

 

Rick, K6VVA