[CQ-Contest] CQ Sponsored Contests are really good contests...

[Geoffrey Way]

This is strictly my opinion, and my first-ever post to this group.

Well said, Scott.

I often participate in events for my own reasons, and they sometimes have little to 
do with the rules or purported objectives of a given contest, no matter who is the 
sponsor.

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The primary purpose of ANY operating event is to STIMULATE ACTIVITY ON THE BANDS.
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This presents A LOT OF opportunities to measure oneself in many ways; e.g., can I 
even *HEAR* the DX that the guy across town is working, and is it because I am doing 
the right things, but my setup is insufficient, or am I doing something incorrectly 
and I would, if I weren't making that mistake? Also, since every recurrence of the 
event is different, it won't go down exactly the same way as before; is it realistic 
to harbor certain expectations?

Let's get off the scoring inequity rant, and think about the benefit to our hobby. 
The fairness is in our chance to take a pulse on ourselves, and the "Race" is only 
against what we have done before in a similar situation. Are we going to whine about 
how propagation tends to favor those at lower latitudes as well? Or that an unusual 
sporadic E cloud only formed over 1 continent and not another? Or that crazy opening 
to Asia for NA during CQWWCW in the middle of the night? Some things are beyond 
anyone's influence.

I see it as a choice of what "game" the event represents. If the event is stacked in 
favor of a certain geographical area, like a state QSO party, why does that even 
matter, if I'm just wondering how many CO stations I can work in the few spare hours 
I have that weekend? It isn't always about "what's in it for me?" when I operate. I 
like SS more for the challenge of making a sweep than winning my section, even though 
I've done both. I'm hopeful that the HPM event stays just that way-- an EVENT. The 
ones who are involved are just doing it because it's a FUN activity.

KA1IOR