[CQ-Contest] How many hours do SOAB entrants actually operate?

[David Gilbert]

Ahh ... you mean that more people will do what they actually prefer to 
do instead of what they might feel compelled to do.  I didn't realize 
that was a bad thing for a hobby.  I think it's pretty funny that some 
folks are against a 24 hour category precisely because they think it 
might be popular enough to make a difference.

But apparently you didn't bother to read the statistics in the original 
posts from KR2Q.  Fully 90% of all contesters who send in a log ALREADY 
operate less than 24 hours and 75% operate less than 15 hours.  I'd bet 
that the numbers for those who don't bother to send in a log (but still 
contribute to contest activity) are skewed even lower.  I think it's 
fully debatable whether or not a 24 hour category would encourage more 
of the 10% who currently operate more than 24 hours to operate less than 
it would encourage those 15% in the 15 to 24 hour group to operate 
more,  but personally I suspect it would be a wash.

Besides, I don't think anyone advocating a 24 hour category expects to 
garner a victory from having one.  Hard core stations and elite 
operators will always win over casual ops.  A 24 hour category merely 
gives more people a chance to compare themselves on a more equal footing.

Dave   AB7E

p.s.   In cycling, fewer riders in the longer races absolutely impinges 
on the efforts of others.  Drafting in a group is critical ... a solo 
rider will expend as much as 30% more effort than a rider in the middle 
of a group going the same speed.




On 4/1/2013 7:21 AM, Richard F DiDonna NN3W wrote:
> Because in cycling, the efforts of one cyclist don't necessarily 
> impinge on the efforts on others.  By encouraging stations to operate 
> only 24 hours, you will have an effect on how the bands load and the 
> availability of stations during certain periods.  I can guarantee you 
> that if stations got to chose to chose a 24 hour operating period, 
> most would chose to operate during daylight hours and would avoid 
> marginal bands as you can't mess up in a 24 hour contest.  Look at the 
> scores from this past weekend's CQWPX contest - SOAB stations 
> completely minimized their efforts on 80 and 160 because the ratio of 
> time versus QSOs does not justify being up that late.
>
> I'll also stand in total agreement with other posters who note that 
> creating a new "24 hour" category won't guarantee any victories for 
> non-hard core stations.  It will instead mean that certain hard core 
> stations who don't want to do 48 hours, will instead do 24 hours and 
> will knock off the competition.
>
> 73 Rich NN3W