[CQ-Contest] Move WPX Back to 30 Hours?

[Bill Parry]

I agree with this as well. My wife tells me that I don't like change - and
she is right! I understand a lot of the arguments that are made for change
in my head, but in my heart I wish they had, for example, left the ARRL DX
Contest two weekends for CW and two weekends for phone. I have always
enjoyed all the excitement of the contests.

I know I know all those reasons that it isn't practical.....but I can still
wish! We don't need to change the length of the contest; we need to change
our operating habits to fit what we can accomplish. For me, contesting is
all about achieving the best result for the time, stamina, money,
location... and, of course, most of all FUN!

Speaking of marathons, my wife and I took our four grandkids on a little
outing. (All under 8 years old.) We drove up to Natural Bridge Caverns and
went through the caverns. Just keeping up with them was "like a marathon"
and the contest was to see if I was going to need a stay in the hospital
after the walk down and back up! OH! - Did you know that little kids wiggle
around a lot while sleeping in a motel room? We went through the wildlife
park and I almost got pecked by an angry ostrich!

Home sweet home!

Bill W5VX


-----Original Message-----
From: cq-contest-bounces at contesting.com
[mailto:cq-contest-bounces at contesting.com] On Behalf Of Richard L. King
Sent: Saturday, March 22, 2008 9:23 AM
To: Jim Neiger; cq-contest at contesting.com
Subject: Re: [CQ-Contest] Move WPX Back to 30 Hours?

I agree with Jim on this one.

When we start cutting back on contest time to fit our aging sleep 
cycle, it is admitting that the end of contesting is at hand.

When I hit 100 years of age, I want the WPX to still be a 36 hour 
contest and not a one hour contest to fit my physical needs.

Of course, I am hoping that there will be another generation of 
contesters to follow us. If we know for sure that contesting is going 
to die out with us, then you can make all contests an evening's 
sprint and I will find another hobby. Maybe I will start running 
Marathons (Unless they get shortened for me too).

73, Richard - K5NA



At 22:51 3/21/2008, Jim Neiger wrote:
>And I would like to see this contest go back to 48 hours.
>
>o   Contests are for operating
>
>o   Sleeping is for non-contesters
>
>o   Bands are for congesting
>
>At my house, Trey was always fondly known as "The Kid", and we tried to
>treat him just like one of our children.   Now he's starting to sound like
>the rest of the OF's who can no longer 'cut the mustard'...  Let's see,
>Trey-ster,  was it 1999 that you were No. 1 SO/AB from HC8 and wasn't that
>also a new WR?? Surely you could operate the entire 48 hours.... What
>happened?
>
>Gads, in 30 years when I hit the Century mark,  I sure hope that there will
>still be some of you young guys around to work.
>
>Vy 73
>
>Jim Neiger   N6TJ
>
>
>----- Original Message -----
>From: "Trey Garlough" <trey at kkn.net>
>To: <cq-contest at contesting.com>
>Sent: Friday, March 21, 2008 7:59 AM
>Subject: Re: [CQ-Contest] Move WPX Back to 30 Hours?
>
>
> > Randy has summarized the situation very well.
> >
> > I think the 30-hour SOAB WPX format was very good, and I still think
> > that the new 36-hour format is a mistake.  I would love to see the
> > contest go back to the 30-hour format -- it was the quintessential
> > world wide contest for "medium guns."
> >
> > Anyone who has been in the contesting game for a long time will
> > recognize the following fact: The best ops with the best stations in
> > the best locations tend to win contests.  There is not much mystery to
> > this aspect of contesting.
> >
> > o The beauty of the 30-hour format is that it gives the best ops with
> >  the best stations in the best locations less time to assert these
> >  advantages over everyone else.  This makes the race closer and more
> >  exciting.
> >
> > o Because the big guns spend fewer hours on the air, the bands are less
> >  congested and this gives the medium guns more space to establish
> >  themselves.
> >
> > o Having to pick what you think your best 30 hours will be introduces an
> >  interesting aspect of strategy that is not present in most contests.
> >
> > o It's ok for contests to be different.  There are plenty of 48-hour
> >  contests available for guys who feel limited by the 30-hour format.
> >
> > Not sure what else to say.  This horse was beaten dead 10 years ago --
> > would love to see it come back to life!
> >
> > --Trey, N5KO/HC8N
> >
> >
> > K5ZD writes:
> >> History has shown that the shorter time period enables more people
> >> to be competitive from more places around the world.  For example,
> >> from W6, it is more likely to find 30 good hours that include Europe
> >> or JA propagation than it is to find 36 hours.  Where from W1, we
> >> have 40+ hours of good prop to Europe.  By limiting to 30 hours,
> >> both the W1 and W6 ops have the same amount of rate opportunities to
> >> work with.
> >>
> >> The biggest complaint against 30 hours is that there is a lot of
> >> time where you may be wanting to operate, yet can't.  This tends to
> >> drive a lot of activity into the first 24 hours and then leave the
> >> bands a little emptier on day 2.
> >>
> >> As a side note, the WPX RTTY contest has kept the 30 hour limit.  I
> >> am not sure what prompted the increase from 30 to 36 hours.  Based
> >> on comments over the years, the guys who are on expeditions or in
> >> high rate locations tend to favor the longer operating time.  The
> >> guys in less advantage areas have voted by giving up on the contest
> >> and so their comments have diminished.
> >>
> >> Randy, K5ZD
> > _______________________________________________
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>
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