[CQ-Contest] NA February Sprint - more numbers

[Ted Bryant]

Mike and Steve,
You both make very good points about the participation. So, I got curious
and looked at the published results for previous February Sprints. The list
below shows the number of stations who submitted logs from 2000 through
2008.

             West        East(of Mississippi)
2000          92          86
2001          70          66
2002          67          98
2003          92         106
2004         102         119
2005          99          90
2006          86          66
2007          87          73
2008          80          86

While Steve's comment about the decline of the East vs West coast
participation is not supported by these numbers, it is very possible that
the mix within the East participants has shifted away from the more populus
New England states. However, in looking through the published results there
didn't seem to be any abnormal variations in the number of entries from the
1, 2 or 3 call areas.  One thing that was very obvious was the large number
of California stations in each Sprint.  This might be a factor on the low
bands as Mike noted and fits in with Steve's comment about clubs like the
NCCC encouraging their members to participate.

Could it really be that the "West of the Mississippi" advantage in top
finishes for the February Sprint is actually caused by West coast club
influence in getting their membership active in the Sprints?

73, Ted W4NZ



-----Original Message-----
From: cq-contest-bounces at contesting.com
[mailto:cq-contest-bounces at contesting.com]On Behalf Of Steve London
Sent: Tuesday, February 10, 2009 5:11 PM
To: cq-contest at contesting.com
Subject: Re: [CQ-Contest] NA February Sprint


W0MU Mike Fatchett wrote:
>
> What is the percentage of entries in the Sprint W vs E?  That might be a
> more telling statistic.  Having lots of people on close to you gives you a
> bunch of loud easy contacts on 80m and 40 as well.

You're almost on the right track, Mike. Look at how the number of east coast
entries in the Sprint has gone down compared to west coast entries in the
last
20-25 years. The east coast was much more competitive when they had more
stations to work in their backyards. Seems to me that the east coast contest
clubs need to beat the bushes to increase activity, just like the NCCC has
done
on the west coast. It boggles the mind that states like MD have become rare
multipliers in Sprint !

73,
Steve, N2IC