[CQ-Contest] Have NCCC and PVRC ruined SS? Nope

[jpescatore at aol.com]

On the PVRC side, PVRC going whole hog in SS greatly increases the number of MD, NC and VA stations, with a minor increase in WV, PA and DE. So, the only contest ops that might feel SS is less fun would be ops in those sections - for everyone else, more stations on in SS *always* means more fun. I think most west coast ops welcome any increase in WV and DE activity, in any event.

Now, in MD, NC and VA the vast, vast majority of increase in PVRC stations are small to medium scores - the serious SS contesters in PVRC get on in SS regardless of PVRC pushing or not pushing. So, the actual impact to any ops in those sections who were hoping to win some wallpaper is pretty minimal.

As a SS fan, NCCC getting more of these sections on the air makes the contest more fun for me - more stations on the air in any contest always makes that contest more fun. I would think the impact on non-NCCC ops is pretty similar to the experience of non-PVRC ops in MD, VA and NC.

NCCC and PVRC might have made it less fun for smaller clubs trying to compete in the Unlimited club category, but of course for years PVRC was  one of those *not* winning and galvanized its membership to win. It's not a secret sauce - get more members and get more of their butts in the contest chairs for longer periods of time is kinda an open source strategy...

73 John K3TN