[CQ-Contest] Improving the Fabulous CQ 160 Contest

[Tom Haavisto]

> 1.  Make the exchange 59(9) grid where "grid" is 4 character
> Maidenhead grid square, a-la the Stew Perry test.


With your proposed change, you are assuming that everyone we work in a
contest is an active participant, or at least made some effort to
prepare for the contest.  Consider the problem of trying to explain
what a grid-square is and to get the casual (non-contester) to get you
that information on the fly.  All they will see is a bunch of
letters/numbers flying by with no understanding of what they are/how
to get one.

We also need to consider - why do people get on 160?  I assume quite a
few do it in order to further award chasing - DXCC and WAS for
example.  Remember - we are talking non-participants here.  At
present, the current rules meet that objective.  Using grid squares
will make life a whole lot more complicated for the casual folk.  That
makes for fewer QSO's, and everyone looses...

Tom - VE3CX